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On “Soaking Prayer”

By Anita Mathias


Four years ago, I went to the grandly titled “International Leaders School of Ministry,” led by John Arnott of Catch the Fire (the new name of the Toronto Airport Fellowship, famous for the Toronto Blessing.)

They taught us a form of prayer called soaking prayer.

Basically: lie down on the floor, often facedown. The position is important; the physical attitude of surrender makes it easier to arrive at the mental attitude of surrender.

In C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape advises his nephew Wormwood to get the new convert to scorn the importance of physical position in prayer,  to forget that “they are animals and whatever their bodies do affects their souls.”  We were taught to wriggle and squirm until our bodies were comfortable. A comfortable, relaxed body makes it easier to hear God’s voice.

* * *

And then, once comfortable, relaxed, face down on the floor, we do…basically…nothing!

We listen, we rest, we are conscious of our Father’s love for us. If our thoughts wander like wild falcons, then like a falconer, we gently bring them back. God may speak full of directions or wisdom, or he may not. Our prayer is a matter of abiding, of hanging out, rather than a shopping list of requests and queries.  We are in the Presence, resting in the Presence, and what happens there is up to him, not us.

This is how John Arnott describes it:

Soaking is simply spending time in God’s presence, rather than striving. It’s about resting in His Presence, experiencing Him and choosing to be intimate with Him.   While we base our theology on the Bible, our experiences with God make the truth come alive in our hearts. When we soak, we focus on Him. 

Soaking puts us in a position where we are often more able to hear His voice and receive His love. It is also an opportunity for us to pour out our hearts to Him. It’s about living in and enjoying an on-going relationship with our creator. 

As people have soaked in God’s Presence, they have experienced profound heart changes, marriages have been healed, fears dispelled, depression and sickness have left and their lives have been transformed.

Or “Soaking prayer is a modern form of contemplative prayer … People put themselves in an attitude of stillness, focusing on Jesus and open to the Holy Spirit but with no requests or agenda. The aim is to be still in God’s presence, ‘waste time with Jesus.’ The Toronto church sees soaking prayer as one of the main ways in which they encourage people to be open to the Holy Spirit.”  From “Soaking Prayer” by Roger Harper.

* * *

 It is prayer for contemplatives, right-brain peoples, nascent mystics, a different form of prayer from a more activist model.

For me, it involves lying face down, getting physically comfortable, and just relaxing. Doing nothing.  Just being. Being surrendered in the presence of God. Thirsty ground soaking in invisible waves of slow love and grace and Spirit.  Inviting the Father into my heart, to perform his surgery in his time.

No agenda. Nothing as entrepreneurial as prayer lists for my business, or my children, or my marriage or my blog or writing, or my home or garden. Just face down in worship. Or surrender. Or sometimes emptiness.

It is prayer beyond words. It is waiting.  Speak Lord. Thy servant is listening.

Nothing in the realm of the spirit is quantifiable, of course, but this practice of rested, surrendered prayer has changed me.

* * *

I gained a deeper conviction of God’s love for me. Experienced his love far more deeply. Begun to experience deep healing (intellectually, and creatively, interestingly. I was burnt out when I started.) I became aware of a new boldness, and fearlessness, and disregard for what people think of me.

It’s a place of peace.  When the timer goes, it’s a wrench and sadness. For someone as cerebral as me, it’s a surprise to realize that I have been deeply in the presence of God, though nothing much was said, or done, or ostensibly “happened.”

I just love to hang out with you.

Nothing much is said.

Nothing much is done.

Apparently nothing happened.

Yes, somehow, I am different.

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Filed Under: In which I play in the fields of prayer Tagged With: C. S. Lewis, Catch the Fire, Contemplative Prayer, John Arnott, Screwtape Letters, soaking prayer, Toronto Blessing, Toronto Revival

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Comments

  1. Anita Mathias says

    September 7, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    Thanks Debra. I find it incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating. I am normally quite cerebral, always thinking, and so I really enjoy being with God in a place beyond words. I am conscious of his presence and his love, though nothing much is said.

  2. Debra Seiling says

    September 7, 2012 at 5:43 pm

    Dear Anita,
    I just read your blog on the Soaking Prayer.I have done something similar which I call “My Quiet Time with God,” but I don't do it on a regular basis-only when I'm trying to get specific direction from God on an issue. I need to be more mindful of doing this more often, with no agenda in mind. Thanks! Debbie Seiling
    http://bible-passages.blogspot.com

  3. Anita Mathias says

    August 25, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    That's a nice way of putting it, Marcy!

  4. prochaskas says

    August 24, 2012 at 7:26 pm

    Just seeing this now, but yeah — I used to call it “napping toward Jesus” — a sense of abandoning my defenses and vigilance, laying myself down in his shadow, aiming in his direction even though it feels like I have no power to get there — even so powerless, I can aim.

  5. Anita Mathias says

    May 19, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    Thanks, Archer. I too started soaking prayer with a group, but it's now the main way I pray, other than prayer walking, which I also love!

  6. Archer says

    May 19, 2012 at 2:01 am

    Anita – What a post! I belong to a spiritual direction group, and this is how we practice praying together — in this 'soaking prayer' type of fashion. It has been transformative, but I haven't done it much at home when I am alone. Thanks for stirring God hunger in me today.

  7. Anita Mathias says

    May 18, 2012 at 11:59 am

    Thanks, Mollie. Blessings as you get over your season of burnout. I am exhausted too today but going to listen to Patricia Allum in London, which I hope will be refreshing–Patricia and the worship, I mean, not London!

  8. Miss Mollie says

    May 17, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    I have done that and I need to do that more. Getting over a season of depression and burnout. I know I need time alone with God. I call it “Face time.” You have worded it wonderfully.

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
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A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
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Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
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https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
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Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
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