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I've spoken to different people on this topic, and a lot of them have designated a specific part of their house for prayer and quiet time with God...some use the kitchen, some a study, and one lady even uses her walk-in closet...I recently moved, and think that this is something I would like to begin...

My questions: Do you have a special area designated for that time with God? Do you find benefits of have a set area where you go daily? Do you treat that area of your home differently? Are you able to focus more in that area vs other areas of your home?

If it is something you do, can you share a little bit about your experiences with it?

I have an area in my house called the mediation area, where I pray, sit, read and generally use it to clear my head.

That's interesting... as a child I used to stay @ the St. Joseph convent in Grenada with my aunt who's a nun and she had a special place where she prayed in mornings... it was right by the window overlooking the sea and it was so serene and calm...And I always thought to myself that's just incredible.

Now I'm on a different path in life then I was as a child, but I have to admit this, I do have 2 special places where I meditate and pray. One is a very sacred place to me that holds images of love, warmth, and peace... and I try and go to it every morning or just when I have to... The other place is by my window that looks straight into the sky, night or day... when I feel the need to I will go and pray to my Creator, thank s/he for all that I have in my life and my experiences... Living here in NYC, we don't have the great graces of back home, so I find solace in my spiritual space and when I close my eyes I'm actually brought back to my aunt's room...


Thank you triniprincess76 for this thread... I may use it to expand on my blog page!

Np...

Lately I've been finding that I'm not studying and getting in The Word like I ought to...I find myself doing a lot of things that I should have had the victory over a long time ago...I looked around at my room, and it was a mess...God is a God of order, and I'm like how can I possibly try to communicate and my surroundings are in a mess?

I started cleaning up all of my mess, (and it's not just a messy house...it's everything, like personal relationships, and finances, etc) and I feel calm, and at peace...I do want to find a special place, and dedicate it for my quiet time...

It's interesting, I have this cd called "SacredWoman" and it has songs that guides towards healing, the feminine body, mind, and spirit and there's this song called "Sacred Space: This is Our House" and let me tell you, when I played it on Saturday I got to cleaning... Here's some lyrics: "This is our house, and we must clean, clean it to recieve spirit... let the cleaning go through and wipe those corners, of all the decay and mildew, make the mirrors clean, don't block your blessings they are near...."

Girl ask the Lord and you shall receive... So if you want that space he will guide you to where it should be...

So true!!!

http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=2&mid=6738

Sacred Space Can Enhance, Prayer, Meditation

Feb. 16, 2005

A UMC.org Feature
By Renee Elder*

If big family rooms and state-of-the-art kitchens reflect our love of food and family, shouldn’t our relationship with God also claim a special space in our homes?
For many, the answer is an emphatic "yes."

"If you have one place where you settle down to pray or meditate on a regular basis, you can move into it faster and more gently; it’s your space for that purpose," says the Rev. Theonia Amenda, a retired United Methodist minister and covenant guidance counselor in Slinger, Wis. "I have a room—it’s a guest room, really, but it’s also my meditation room—and I have symbols around me that help me focus."

It might be a room in your home, a spot in your garden or an easy chair by the living room window. But designating a special place for spiritual reflection enriches meditation, prayer, Bible reading and journaling, says the Rev. Elizabeth J. Canham, director of Stillpoint Ministries in Black Mountain, N.C.

"I set aside a room in my house that is like a meditation chapel, with icons on the wall and some prayer shawls," Canham says.

She spends about an hour in her special room each morning.

"I make it pleasurable. I take my high-test coffee," Canham says. "I use an oil lamp and sometimes put on a piece of music. I think it needs to be personalized. There’s no one-size-fits-all."

Canham recommends decorating with items that are meaningful—perhaps pebbles from a stream, religious icons, beads or candles.

"It can be difficult to sit and pray and meditate, and it’s good to have something you can pick up and be with," she says. "You can make a ritual of coming to the table or altar, lighting a candle and doing some simple stretching and bowing to begin. It’s a way to make the experience very intentional."

When the weather is nice, she often ventures outdoors.

"I built a little meditation walk in the woods," says Canham, an Episcopal priest who came to the United States from England in 1981. "It’s a simple path, not a labyrinth, but you can follow it as it twists around."

The outdoors also beckons the Rev. Brian Wingo to spiritual reflection, though in a less formal setting.

"My wife and I both love to garden, and that is a spiritual thing in many ways for us," (I THINK THIS IS GREAT FOR COUPLES)says Wingo, pastor of Pleasant Green United Methodist Church in Durham, N.C. "We have statuary and benches we put out. I’m not sure how intentional it is, but it’s invitational. If you feel a need for a place to think, reflect or pray, it’s there."

Wendy Wright, a Catholic and professor of theology at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., has written a book, Sacred Dwelling: A Spirituality of Family Life, that urges readers to seek the holy in their daily lives.

"People often experience the dining table as a place where, when the family gathers, they share not only food but the details of their day," Wright says. "It’s a place of emotional and intellectual exchange. Yet we tend to dismiss the sacredness of these ordinary spaces."

It only takes a nook or corner to define a space for spiritual reflection, she says.

"I’ve known people who have created little prayer rooms in whatever physical space they could find inside their house," she says. "It may be a basement or even a closet area where they can be reflective, or maybe just in a bedroom chair late at night. I think people have to be creative."

Before setting up a spiritual retreat, reflect on what fuels your relationship with God, says Amenda, who works with a spiritual formation academy and covenant community in Wisconsin.

"Nature speaks to me of God, so my focus is outside," she says. "There’s a huge old tree outside my window that speaks to me as being grounded. And I also have a picture of Christ in front of me. Someone else might sit in a room with a candle because it helps illuminate the light of Christ within them."

Canham recently wrote a book, A Table of Delight: Feasting with God in the Wilderness, that examines the wilderness theme in the context of spiritual struggle. The ideas can be used in a domestic setting, she says.

"I talk about entering the desert as a time of struggling with spirituality but also a time of holy encounter," Canham explains. "It’s about choosing a place of beauty and silence in order to be more open to God."

*Elder is a freelance writer in Raleigh, N.C.

News media contact: Matt Carlisle, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5153 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

This feature was developed by UMC.org, the official online ministry of The United Methodist Church

I like how they showed that different people use what's important to them to decide where they should use...we're all different, and have different likes, so our walk with God will be a little bit different...it's personal...I like that!

I totally agree... Sometimes there's always that lil thing that connects us even though we're walking different spiritual paths. For example my mom is Catholic and I'm helping her set up a lil meditation space for her to read her bible and just to organize her thoughts... she asked me about this since she saw my meditation room and I invited her with me to that space to pray.That astonished her because she wasn't sure what she was going to meet, and it ended up just being my meditation prayer for the family. Even though we're walking different paths our individual rooms connects us...

When my mom first moved to the States, she left us with a good friend of hers for a year while she got herself settled...this lady never started her day without having her time with her Maker...and she went to the same spot every day...and when we saw her there, we knew not to disturb...we associated that place with her having quiet time with God...

I see it every time I try to sit down quietly, I get disturbed all the time...and I think it's 'cause I don't have a set place where everyone knows hey tp76 (ah nearly call out mih name oui... ) is having her special time with God...respect that, and leave her alone.

Well you know that's how I found out about my aunt "the nun's" space... We all would wake up, and she wouldn't say a word, she would just go there and pray. It's only then she eventually told us about her space and invited us to pray too... What I realize is that perhaps you do need that set place and possibly behind a closed door. (Steups) people may make dem comments especially Caribbean people lol, like mi dad "she goin in dat simmie dimmie room again" lol... but I had to sit him down and say you see how you like to go in your room and close your door and read your books and watch your documentaries, I have my designated space for MY time too!... To this day my father respects my space, that he wouldn't even pass the room while I'm there... I don't know if he's doing it out of fear or out of respect but either way I'm going to invite him to pray with me one day. (girl another inspiration for my blog, my dad and my spirituality) YOU GET A STAR in my book fuh dat! lol

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One of my best friends recently decided to focus on his spiritual life...of course I couldn't be happier...every single morning he calls me, and we pray on the phone together...there is nothing better than starting my day that way...it is absolutely awesome!