Prayer beads, used by many Christians and other faith traditions, can be helpful for enhancing our contemplative prayer experience. We often use our hands to focus our mind and heart toward God.
You can purchase prayer beads at many local religious bookstores or websites. Or you can make your own using our Women of the ELCA resource, A Thoughtful Prayer Life. The beads provide structure for prayer, which may be the same every time or may vary depending on the time of day or church season.
As you begin praying with the beads, try to create your own forms of prayer that both listen and speak to God. The prayers in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (p. 72-87) can be adapted for use with prayer beads. For more information on Anglican prayer beads and additional models of prayer, visit www.kingofpeace.org/prayerbeads.htm.
This message is adapted from “Speaking with God: Conversation Tools” written by Kevin Anderson in the July/August 2010 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.