More 'Prayerful Moments'

Increasingly aware of the many struggles people are facing during this pandemic, I have been developing some more simple meditations to help people through.

As I anticipate that the series may continue to grow, these meditations now have their own web page which you can access through the link on the top right of this page.

I pray that these new resources will help you in some small way.

Please help others too by sharing this information widely.                    Thank you.

Prayerful Moments in the pandemic

These are not easy times, are they?

As part of my personal response to the current crisis, I have begun to develop some simple prayerful meditations which can be found here, on YouTube and on Facebook.  Each is about 15 minutes long.  My hope is that these will provide opportunities for others to find peace in their anxieties and to calm and strengthen themselves with prayer.

If God leads me in this project, this may become a series.

The first in the series is here  ...




I'm also thrilled to discover that my new book gets a mention on YouTube too!

Nicky Hazley, from Comber Methodist church, in Ireland, has created a lovely prayer reflection based on 'Dwelling in the Psalms'.

This is also well worth exploring  ...




Peace be with you all.

Go safely through these times.

.

Find calm with a FREE CD

Feeling overwhelmed?

A growing death toll, the constant bombardment of bad news, the growing restrictions on our lives, isolation from family and friends, fears for our health and our livelihoods, the lack of any sense of 'normality'; all these impact us hugely.  They have the potential to send our minds into a swirling storm.

Image: Ken Walters

Apart from staying at home and washing our hands, 

one of the most important things we can do is quieten that storm; bring peace to our fears and anxieties.

'Calming the Storm' is a CD which will help you to do that.

And as my contribution towards helping you get through, 

I'm now making it available for FREE during this pandemic.

Here's what others are saying about it -

Thank you for releasing 'Calming the Storm' at this very difficult and disturbing time.  I am now filled with an amazing sense of peace.

Caryl

I cannot adequately express how deeply moved I was by this CD.  It speaks so powerfully into this very time and I know I will listen to it many times.

Liz

This is so relevant to our coronavirus situation. 
I have used it to achieve calm and restfulness when unable to sleep.

Barbara

Definitely a CD for 'such a time as this'.

Joanne

And now it can be yours.  ...   for free!

Image: Jenny Hawke

Based on Jesus calming the storm on Galilee, it combines narrative poetry and guided meditation with prayerful questioning, sound effects and relaxing ambient music. It will help you to find peace in your own inner storms, whatever they are.  Your storm can become a prayer experience and that prayer can calm your anxieties.

This is for anyone.  It matters not if you believe in Jesus.  He believes in you!  And this can help.  It's normally £9.99 and right now, as a small contribution to the global efforts against coronavirus, I'm giving it away for free.

What have you got to lose?

Just email me your address, or the address of someone you'd like me to send it to; let me know how many give-away copies you'd like, and I'll send them on their way.  I'll even include a pre-stamped envelope for you to post a CD onward if it's not for yourself.

If you're able to make a donation towards the postage, it would help me, but it's not essential.

                           

Email me now at  pat@patmarsh.co.uk   I'm looking forward to hearing from you.  

I'd love it if this CD could help people get peacefully through this time.

Stay safe   ...   Stay well.  ...   Stay calm.   

We can get through this!

Calming the Storm - A new CD!

"A wonderful CD series!  

Touching our deepest fears and hurts

with the peace and presence of Christ."

A beautiful endorsement from

Pam Rhodes

How calm are you right now?

As coronavirus sweeps its way across the world, there are many fears around: fears of sickness, fears of shortages, isolation and disruption, fears of financial struggles, fears of death; and fears of how we will cope with all this.

Many are experiencing significant inner turmoil at the moment, trying to 'keep calm and carry on' in spite of their hidden storms, which may of course have their roots in other personal problems too.

How might we find peace for our swirling emotions, fears and anxieties?   

'Calming the Storm' is the next CD in the Pathways to Healing series - and I'm thrilled to announce that it's released today!  

Based on Jesus calming the storm on Galilee, it combines narrative poetry and guided meditation with prayerful questioning, sound effects and relaxing ambient music. It will help you to find peace in your own inner storms, whatever they are.  Immerse yourself in this and you'll find yourself there in the boat with Jesus; hearing the thunder, feeling the gale, pitching and tossing with the waves and experiencing the difference when Jesus brings his authority to the storm and says, "Peace. Be still."  

Your storm can become a prayer experience and that prayer can calm your anxieties.

Oh. ...  and I did I say?  ... there are two beautiful Margaret Rizza tracks on this CD too.

It's available from my web shop.  Look out for the special offer too if you want to buy both CDs in the series.

Maybe you could make a gift of it to someone who could use a little inner peace.   It's a great resource for individuals, small groups and churches.

Why not order it now, before you forget? 
.

Encountering Jesus

How radical are you prepared to be to meet with Jesus?  Would you dig through a roof, for instance?  Four people did that for their friend and the result was a remarkable healing and a life-changing forgiveness. (Mark 2.1-12)

Every healing in the bible involves an encounter with Jesus, the Jesus who still heals today.  But how do we intentionally encounter him?

One way is through meditating with scripture and placing ourselves within the story.  It's not always easy to do on our own, but the Pathways to Healing series of CDs is designed to help you do just that.

Some lovely things have been about this series:

Pat's profoundly thoughtful and prayerful re-telling of familiar scripture stories and her very sensitively guided meditations take us to a place deeper than the intellect alone can reach.

Let her take you on a unique and powerful journey of discovery and into a healing encounter with the living Christ.

Margaret Silf, Author & Retreat Leader

Thank you for your far-reaching ministry.

This CD enabled me to find healing from something that for a long time had 'paralysed' me.

Lesley McCririe, Spiritual Director & Retreat Leader

Why not try this for yourself?  Or buy a copy for someone you know?

Prior to the launch of the next CD in the series, 

I'm offering the 1st CD, 'Take Up Your Mat', at the discounted price of £8.

It's available at my web-shop and on Amazon.    I look forward to sending it to you.

.

Perfect for Lent

Many thanks to Judy Cannan, Spiritual Director & retreat leader, for this beautiful review of 'Dwelling in the Psalms':

It is with delight that I heard that Pat had written a book 'Dwelling in the Psalms' and I couldn't wait to get my copy.  Getting hold of a copy was an easy process and the book has since proved a treasure trove.  It combines just enough of the traditional psalm with her own psalm/poem response plus a short reflection and prayer. It would be perfect for a journey through Lent or as material for a guided retreat, or just for our own personal prayer time.  I recently gave it to one of my regular 'directees' who was blown away by its relevance to her on her own life journey. This is a valuable resource.


Do you know of anyone who's looking for devotional inspiration through Lent?

It's available in all the usual places.

Thanks after struggle - Psalm 18

I recently had a spectacular, painful fall.  I was at the bottom of a garden, behind a rockery, well out of sight of any neighbours.  Fortunately, I didn't break any bones, but I hurt almost everything else it was possible to hurt; knees, arms, back, head, neck, shoulders and a good many body parts I'd never been aware of before.  And because I'm still rebuilding after knee surgery, I simply couldn't get up.  I knew that absolutely no one would be able to see or hear me, or even know that I was there.  So the only way I could get myself back to safety was to crawl, inch by painful inch, back to the house, negotiating rocks, paths and steps on the way.  And once there, I collapsed and eventually found the strength to inch my way to the phone to ring for help.  It took me two hours and was one of the most painful and totally exhausting things I've ever had to face.  It was a monumental task and I couldn't have done it without continually crying out to God in prayer.

In the following few days, I was unable stop giving thanks!  I gave thanks that I didn't fracture anything, that I didn't knock myself out, that I wasn’t still lying in the undergrowth with hypothermia, that two friends finally arrived and lifted me into a chair, that I was safe and warm, and recovering.

And all this reminds me of my words on Psalm 18, in "Dwelling in the Psalms" ...

A contemporary interpretation of the psalm ...

Taste and see:

the Lord protects

those who call on him;

he is close to the broken-hearted,

sends his angels

on a rescue mission,

delivers them

from their troubles,

lifts their downcast hearts,

ensures that they lack

no good thing.

Turn to the Lord

with your lips

and your lives.

Fear not:

he is close,

very close.

And my devotional reflection ...

This is a psalm of exhortation, borne out of experience: ‘I sought the Lord, and he answered me’. Building on the memory of answered prayers, ‘tasting’ God’s response in times past, gives the writer of this psalm confidence to have faith in the goodness of God for today. The Lord has rescued him before and will do so again.

If we honour God with right living, when we depend on him and praise him in our darkest hours we will know his protection and strength. We will taste and see that the Lord is on our side.

For more reflections like this, with the addition of prayers for all 150 psalms, why not pick up a copy of Dwelling in the Psalms?

It's available through Amazon, online here and from all good Christian bookshops.

.