Relaxation, physical and mental, is the first step in praying effectively. God is really just waiting to pour into and through us the treasures of heaven, but when we’re tense, he can’t get through to us. Have you ever had a garden hose which would get a kink in it, and even though you’d turned the faucet on full force, the water couldn’t get through that kink? Well, that’s often what happens to us; we’ve a kink, something which has made us tense and worried, and even though we anticipate God’s coming to us and blessing us and flowing through us, he can’t because of that kink. So the very first thing we need to do in a time of prayer is to relax. Just as we have to walk over and work the kink out of a garden hose, so we must deliberately work the kink out of ourselves before he can flow into and through us.

We have to slow down physically and mentally, and this isn’t easy. It takes time.

For too long we’ve thought that prayer is asking God for something. We’ve planned our day, made out a list, either mentally or on paper, and we’ve sat down on the edge of a chair and held up our list for God to put his heavenly stamp on, and then off we’ve gone.

But that isn’t prayer.

Prayer is making ourselves available to God for his resources and will to flow into and through us. We don’t really pray until we’re open to him. Sometimes this takes only a minute. Something comes up, and we know instantly that we’re incapable of handling it, so we say, “Help, Father,” and in that cry, we’re open to his resources. Other times, we’ve worried and wrestled with a problem for weeks; we know there must be a solution, but we haven’t been able to work it out. And as each thing we thought of that might work proved ineffective, we’ve become more worried and desperate until God couldn’t possibly get through to help us.

We’ve worked ourselves into a kink. Really there’s only one thing to do; begin to work the kink out.

I realize, because I’m a mother with responsibilities and pressures, that most of us are uptight much of the time. We’ve schedules and deadlines to meet. We’re on the run most of the time. When we do have leisure, we don’t quite know what to do with it. We vacation to get away from pressures but find new pressures on vacation and often return home more fatigued than when we left. We decide next time to stay at home, and we do — but the children quarrel; the deep freeze suddenly stops working, and we wrap everything in newspaper, hoping we can repair the freezer before everything melts; or we go restlessly from one thing to another, finding no deep satisfaction in the time we have off. We almost long to be back to the everyday routine, for we’re more used to coping with the pressures there.

We need to learn to relax. We need to learn how to let go of tension and anxiety and frustration and anything else which keeps us uptight or in a kink.

It’s essential to relax, to disconnect with the visible world and its problems, in order to come into an awareness of God and to commune with him. Relaxing the body acts very much as a cleaning agent does on a clogged drain, it loosens and removes whatever blocks the flow of God into and through us. The more relaxed and receptive we become, the easier it is to talk with and to listen to God. The exercises in relaxation in this book are to prepare you to pray more deeply, more effectively, and to enable you to become a wider, deeper channel for God to pour himself through to bless you and others.

Right now check yourself. Are your jaw muscles tight? Is your mind really on this book, or is it darting here and there among your problems? Is your breathing shallow and quick, or is it slow and deep and regular? Is your body in a strained position?

By spending time each day in breathing slowly and deeply and letting go of tensions, we can eventually come to the time when we’ll be able to stay in a state of relaxation and calmness all the time.

In the midst of crises or confusion, hurt, or fear, we can act and react from that quiet, relaxed center within which God dwells.

After the first prayer lab I led, I went to stay overnight with a friend. She expected me to be exhausted from a rigorous three-day schedule; however, I was relaxed and refreshed because during the lab we’d relaxed our bodies from tension and released our minds from anxiety. The friend was so impressed, she asked me to let her know when the next lab was to be held, for as a busy mother of four active children, she wanted what I demonstrated. She’s attended two labs, and she’s applying what she learned to her everyday life and is amazed at how well the techniques work.

One of the techniques which she learned is one I’d like you to experiment with now, if you will. Sit in a comfortable position. Rest your feet on the floor, so there’s no strain on either leg. Keep your back straight with shoulders down and back. Lay your hands, palms up, on your thighs. Take in a long, deep breath, and as you exhale, let your head come forward slowly until your chin rests near your chest.

Inhale slowly and lift your head, letting it go straight back as far as it will go comfortably, then exhale, letting your head come down slowly to your chest. Do this again making your breathing in and out and the movement of your head slow and regular. Then rest with your head down in front of you and breathe deeply three times, slowly and rhythmically. Now let your head roll over your right shoulder and to the back as you inhale slowly and let it roll on around to vour left shoulder and down in front as you exhale slowly. Then reverse the roll. Don’t hurry. Take plenty of time and do the roll and reverse roll three times. Feel your jaws relaxing. Feel a yawn in the back of your throat as you do the roll and reverse roll. Keep your shoulders down and relaxed. Only your head should move. Give yourself over to the feeling of quietness that will be coming to you as you breathe and move slowly, regularly, easily. Then lift your head to a comfortable position and with your eyes closed, draw in your breath visualizing that the breath you take in is the peace of God. If you wish, you may say, in your mind, “I draw into my body the peace of God. The peace of God fills me.” Then as you exhale slowly, slowly, visualize the peace of God spreading throughout your body. Inhale and exhale three times.

Give yourself over to the peace that will be entering into you, and rest. Rest in the awareness of the peace of God in you, breathing slowly and quietly. Just rest.

Experiment with the technique. Reread it until you know what to do and then do it without the strain of trying to keep one eye on the book. Or have a friend read it to you. If you can tape record the experiment, reading slowly and quietly what I’ve written, then you can play the tape and be free to listen to the instructions. Use the experiment with your prayer partner or your prayer group. You’ll find that a wonderful sense of relaxation will come with a little practice.

Most of us don’t know what it feels like to be relaxed deeply, and once we discover just how marvelous it is, we’ll want to slip into it when we begin to feel tension build up inside us. Not that we dash to sit down and do the head roll and the deep breathing, but we start breathing slowly and rhythmically, letting the muscles in our jaws relax, feeling a yawn in the back of our throats, going on about our business or conversation. As we practice relaxation day after day, we’ll discover that it’s not too long until it’s a habit to be relaxed, and that no matter what happens we’re relaxed, calm, and peaceful inside.

I first started experimenting with relaxation when I was in college. One summer I spent two hours each morning from five till seven out on the sundeck. I took along my Bible and a devotional book, and after I was comfortably settled in a chair, I’d read awhile then lay the book aside and “pull the plugs.” Then I was ready to pray. I call that summer my golden summer because I never seemed to have to rush or to be under pressure, even though I had what some thought a hectic schedule. I took the maximum number of hours for credit at the college during two regular summer sessions and a third short session, worked as a youth director in a church, and as an office girl in an insurance office. I think that the relaxation in the morning helped me to glide through the day.

In subsequent years, “PULLING THE PLUGS” has proved as effective as then. I think that you’ll enioy this particular experiment. But I want to warn you that to do it takes a sense of humor.

Some groups I’ve used it with have ended with the giggles. However, after the initial humor of the situation passed, they entered into the experiment with dramatic results.

This experiment takes an active imagination, for you need to visualize that your body is like a crystal tumbler that you can see into, and from the outside you’ll be looking at yourself.

You’ll notice that you’re filled with a murky liquid which is a mixture of fear, anxiety, anger, resentment, hate, indecision, physical pain, and negative thoughts. You’ll also notice that in the tips of your fingers and toes there are plugs. These are what you’ll be pulling out so that the murky liquid can drain out of you, Read through the experiment and get in your mind what you’ll be doing because you mustn’t keep one eye on the book. You must give yourself over to the visualization and relaxation.

Sit with your feet on the floor, your palms up in your lap, and close your eyes. Then in your imagination see yourself as a crystal tumbler filled with a murky liquid. See the plugs. In your imagination only, bend over and with your right hand pull the plug out of the big toe on your right foot. Hold the plug in your hand and pull the plug out of the next toe and then out of the middle toe, the next toe and finally out of the little one. Lay the plugs down on the floor by your foot. Reach over to the big toe of your left foot and pull the plug out of it, then take the plug from the next toe, the middle toe, the next one, and the little one and lay them on the floor by that foot.

Straighten up and with your right hand pull the plug out of your left thumb, out of the index finger, the middle finger, the ring finger, and the little finger. Lay them in your lap.

With your left hand, pull the plug from your right thumb, then from the index finger, the middle finger, the ring finger, and the little finger. Lay them in your lap.

Now see the murky liquid begin to flow out your fingers and toes slowly. See the level of the liquid move from the very top of your head to your forehead, then down to your nose, then your chin, your neck, your shoulders, out your arms through your hands, and out your fingers. Then see the level of it move down from your chest to your waist, to your hips and thighs, and on down to your knees, the calves of your legs, your ankles, through your feet, and out your toes. This is all done slowly, taking time to visualize the liquid level all the way down through your body.

Then imagine that the very top of your head is hinged at the back and that the front part at your forehead, lifts up. You see two angels over you with a hose which has a cleansing liquid in it. (Remember I warned you that it takes an active imagination and a sense of humor.) The angels direct the stream of the cleansing liquid into the top of your head, and you feel the swirl of the warm liquid throughout your body, and you see it streaming out your fingers and toes, carrying with it every last little bit of murky liquid that you have in you. Then you feel shining and clean inside. The angels tip the hose up and suddenly they’re gone. The top of your head comes back down slowly and you feel refreshed.

Then you see the plugs lying of the floor, and you bend over and pick up the five by your right foot and begin to put the plugs back in, first in the big toe, then the next toe, the middle toe, the next one, and the little one.

You reach over and pick up five plugs from the floor by your left foot and put one of them in the big toe, one in the next toe, the middle toe, the next one, and the little one.

You straighten up and pick up five plugs from your lap. You put one in the thumb of your left hand, one in the index finger, one in the middle finger, one in the ring finger, and one in the little finger.

Then you pick up the other five plugs and put one in the thumb of your right hand, one in the index fin-ger, the middle finger, the ring finger, and the little finger.

Now you’re ready to be filled.

You see over you a huge pitcher which is filled with a beautiful golden liquid. It’s a mixture of God’s love, light, joy, health, and peace. You open the top of your head, the pitcher tips, and the golden liquid begins to pour into you. You feel it as it trickles down your face, neck, shoulders, chest, hips, thighs, calves, feet. Feel it go down into your toes and see it begin to fill your toes, then your feet. Watch the liquid rise through the calves of your legs, your knees, your thighs, your hips, your waist, your chest, your shoul-ders, through the shoulders it flows down your arms to your fingertips to fill them and then your hands and lower arms, your elbows, your upper arms, and then on up to your neck and chin, nose, eyes, forehead, until you’re completely filled with God’s love, light, joy, health, and peace. And you rest, just rest.

The pull-the-plugs experiment is one which people in the prayer labs or workshops always want repeated when I go back to do a second or third lab. However, not everyone likes it immediately. It may seem foolish or a waste of time. One woman asked for me to repeat the experiment at a second prayer lab in her city.

She confessed to us that when we’d done it the first time she hadn’t really been able to do it, but four days later she found herself so uptight that she sat down and tried the experiment, and it had worked wonders for her. I hope it does for you, too.

The LETTING-GO EXPERIMENT can bring deep relaxation to you. Read ahead to get the experiment in mind and then put the book down while you do the things I suggest, using your imagination with the breathing, which should be slow and steady.

Sit quietly and begin to imagine that you’re letting go all the tension in your mind. Breathe deeply, and as you breathe out feel that the tension is flowing out of your mind with your breath. Then let go behind your eyes. Breathe out and feel the tension go out from your eyes with your breath. Breathe in, letting go the tension from your ears and jaws, and as you breathe out, feel that tension flow out with the breath. Let your jaws drop a little and feel a yawn in the back of your mouth. If this feels particularly good to you, take several long deep breaths while relaxing in the peace of the moment. Breathe in, and then let go of the tension in the muscles of your neck. Breathe out and feel the tension from your neck go out with the breath. Your head may drop forward or back when the tension goes out, and it relaxes in a comfortable position.

Breathe in now and let go of the tension in your shoulders, breathing out and letting the tension flow with the breath. Then do this again with the shoulders, adding the arms and hands this time in the rhythm of the breathing that you do. Take your time and don’t move on to another part of the body until each part has been let go of and relaxed.

Let go in your chest. Feel your heart relaxing, getting into rhythm with the powerful, loving heart of God, and feel the tension flow out of your chest. Breathe deeply.

Let go in your hips, feel the organs in the abdomen relax, let go, so that they can perform their various jobs easily and perfectly, and feel the tension flow out with your breath.

Let go in your thighs, your knees, the calves of your legs, your ankles. Breathe out and feel the tension flowing from your legs.

Let go in your feet and toes. Breathe out and feel all tension flowing from your feet. Then just sit quietly, breathing slowly, easily, aware of a feeling of aliveness, receptivity, and wellbeing permeating every cell of your body.

No doubt you will adapt these experiments until you find just what works best in your own individual life. The important thing is to take enough time to relax before going into prayer. The more you practice the relaxation of your body and mind, the easier it becomes.

Master relaxation of body and mind, and you’ll be thrilled with the new depth that your prayer life will take on.

There is one more experiment which I want to share with you, which more and more people are using, and it will lead us into the next chapter on visualization. I include it in here because it’s primarily used to bring about relaxation.

Picture Jesus standing in front of you. See him kneel beside you and look deeply into your eyes. What love and compassion you see in his eyes. What understanding for you and your problems you see in his eyes. A great longing wells up within you to be as a little child so that Jesus might take you on his lap and comfort you. Then you see that you are a little child and that Jesus picks you up and then sits down, holding you on his lap. You rest your head against his broad shoulder. You feel the rather rough texture of his robe against your cheek.

You feel enveloped by understanding love and acceptance. All tension just melts in the warmth of his love. As a child who has been frightened finds peace in his father or mother, so now you find peace in Jesus and you rest in him, secure. Now that you’ve learned to relax, you’re ready to pray.