Monday, March 26, 2012

5 Free Online Tools for Prayer

If you're like me, finding time and inspiration to pray isn't always the first thing I go to.  Having these online tools has helped me prioritize prayer and gives me some direction as I pray.  Hopefully you can find some inspiration here, too!

1. Online devotions and guided journalling prayers.  Examen.me is an online prayer journalling site with daily readings you can choose from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms or Gospels.  They also provide journalling space for a centering prayer as well as an examen prayer.  Create a free user account to start.   www.examen.me

2. Spoken mp3 guided prayer for your mobile device.  Pray as you go gives a 10 minute Scripture reading and guided prayer to download to your mp3 player/smartphone to pray on your commute.  Part of the Jesuit Media Initiative, expect some classic liturgy, monks chanting and lovely UK accents.  www.pray-as-you-go.org

3. Online meditation and scripture for prayer.  Once again, the Irish Jesuits promote prayer through The Sacred Space.  Available in every language possible (well, not quite), this site leads you at a meditative pace right from your computer screen through Scriptures and thoughts to meditate on.  www.sacredspace.ie

4. Online prayer requests and tools.  Prayer Central gathers prayer requests from missions and world hotspots and invites the online community to pray together for these big requests.  Also provides tools, tips and devotions for prayer.   www.prayercentral.net

5.  Put out by Australia's Uniting Church (a union of Methodist, Presbyterian & Fellowship Churches for us North Americans), this site is an inviting place to "pray, reflect and meditate."  http://prayer.sa.uca.org.au/

6. When you have a bit more time, this website is worth a pass through.  An online prayer labyrinth, it has "stops" along the labyrinth to pause and reflect on our journey and relationships with the world around us, ourselves, and our Lord.  It takes a bit of time to go through, but is well worth it.  www.labyrinth.org.uk/