I was never a huge Seinfeld fan, but chapter three of Jan Johnson's book Enjoying the Presence of God reminds me a little bit of the Serenity Now episode. Evidently George Castanza's father has had a problem dealing with stress. So his doctor told him to use the mantra, Serenity Now. You are welcome watch the clip to see how it worked out on the show.
Jan Johnson is suggesting something similar as a way to stay in God's presence. She recommends breath prayers. As opposed to Serenity Now, breath prayers are a way to get our focus off of ourselves. This is quite a novel concept in American society. Johnson recommends picking a scripture or summing up a verse in 9-10 syllables. When you are worried about surgery, or in my case a paper or test you could just say, "Into Thy Hands." This is not something to screamed, or for the rest of the world to see. This is about trying to redirect yourself towards God. Another way to approach breath prayers is to just ask or say one sentence to God when something out of the ordinary happens. Johnson offers these examples. "Turn this person's heart towards you." "Do I need to change?" Teach me through this negative behavior." Praying for other people in the moment is a great way to shift the focus away from the character trait, or physical appearance that may be bothering you and to put the focus back on God.
As I write this there are a number of people with whom I can practice this, and some very good times. When I am up in the middle of the night bouncing my son and trying to get him to go back to sleep after his feeding - that's a good time to ask, "God, please fill his heart with joy for You."
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