Protestant Prayer Beads
Did you even know these existed? We have had some for a while but I have not as of yet put them to personal use, but I love the idea. For Protestants who do not have a fear of looking too much like a Catholic they can be really a great tool! These prayer beads serve basically the same purpose the Five Finger Prayer lesson did when I was little only with more depth. The Five Finger Prayer was a tangible way of focusing a child’s prayer time, prayer beads can do the same for adults.
There is much symbolism in the beads themselves. They tell the story of the Gospel.
Christian Prayer Beads begin with the cross, the ultimate Christian symbol, and thirty-three beads (representing the numbers of years Christ lived on earth) in four groups of seven called weeks. Among other things, these groups of seven represent the days of Creation and the Biblical number for perfection. These are separated by four (usually larger) beads which are called the “Cruciform” beads because they form the points of a cross when the loop of beads is opened into a circle or diamond shape. The fours represent the Four Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John.
The Cruciform beads with the additional bead directly above the cross (making 5 in all) stand for the wounds of Christ. (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24) The circle represents eternity.
You can assign different elements of prayer to each section of the beads, such as; praise and thanksgiving, confession, intercessory, petitions. For the beads within that section, break your prayers down more specifically. For example, intercessory, think of the individuals you need to be interceding for and pray for them. Work your way through your beads. If you continue to pray through three times around this is symbolic of the Trinity.
So what is the benefit?
- Focus
- To make sure our prayer life is balanced so we do not merely pray for our petitions and forget to confess, etc.
- Symbolism can be a way of enriching our faith as long as it does not become an idol.
- Can be a visible testimony to others.
Though there are prayers that are already crafted for use, there is no set formula for how to use the Christian Prayer Beads and your prayers should be addressed to God directly! This is not for a rote prayer time it is simply a tool to use in drawing closer to the Lord and to keep one focused on their prayer time. They are not for everyone. As with any resource is not necessary and does not replace a intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The man who introduced us to these is a very respected minister friend of ours who loves the Lord Jesus Christ. As my husband is, he is also a military chaplain. I quote here his testimony concerning the use of Christian Prayer Beads….
How do they help me focus? Carrying them is a reminder that God carries me! I would carry them in my hand when I walked the compound in Iraq – mindful of God’s presence. I also used them to lay upon the body of a casualty as I prayed for him and the family. When used as suggested in the literature they can be a real aid to ordered prayer, i.e. discipline of prayer can keep us focused through the prayers.
Worship (and prayer) is an act, not a feeling. The beads can serve as a visible reminder and a disciplined aid to prayer.
For More information visit HERE and HERE.
Posted in Christianity, Prayer
October 26th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
That is quite fasinating. I am familiar with the rosary beads but not these. Thanks for the fasinating info.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I never heard of the five finger prayer before reading that link. It was interesting.
We have a set of rosary beads. I bought them in the Philippines as a reminder to pray for the people I met and the spiritual warfare they are faced with. It is good to have something visual to remind us of somthing that may not constantly be on our minds.
When used properly, I’m sure the beads as a prayer tool are helpful. Many times, however, repition takes over rather than communion with God. This was the problem with many people we met and talked with in the Philippines. Tradition and icons usurped God and rather than being a tool, they became a hindrance. This of course does not mean everyone used them wrongly. Just that it can and does happen, and quite often from what we saw.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I would like to reiterate that these are not the same as rosary beads. The number of beads among other things are indeed different.
Sallie- I do agree with the fact that they can be used improperly. Which is why I made a point of saying that they are a resource and are not replace a intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
)
October 26th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
I’ve always thought there were certain Catholic ideas that were solemn and beautiful and symbolic. I have thought about Christians using prayer beads…but felt weird about it. I’m glad to read this and want to try them. I use a list, but love the beauty of a reminder like this. And I guess it’s what they mean and represent to US that matters.
October 26th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Using a list is also an effective aid, however, I do like the idea of being able to hold something that has symbolism with it. As you pray you can be reminded of, for example, the different wounds Christ bore for us, because that is where you are with your beads. It is simply a visible and tangible reminder while we pray.
I have not used them yet but am seriously considering it.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I came over from the link in Valerie’s comment box today..
Up above in your original post you said “For Protestants who do not have a fear of looking too much like a Catholic they can be really a great tool!”
Catholics are not the only ones who use prayer beads and they are probably the milder of who Protestants would have to worry about looking like. Muslims use prayer beads. Pagans use prayer beads. Wiccans use prayer beads. Witchdoctors use prayer beads. Bah’ai Faith use prayer beads. Tibetans use prayer beads. Buddhists use prayer beads. Celtic Reconstructionists use prayer beads. There are many, many “faiths” that use beads as a way of praying in seeking to appease “God”.
Many places in the Bible speak of God’s anger against mixing with and borrowing from heathen rituals.
The beads are very pretty. I honestly don’t know if they can be used without them becoming a ritualistic tool. I think they probably started off that way but after centuries of use they have been adapted and changed into forms that don’t match up to what that original purpose was.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I said that because there are many people who have said things to me about not wanting to do certain things because ” we don’t want to look Catholic”. In fact most comments I receive when mentioning prayer beads automatically refer to the Rosary.
I have not studied,in depth the pagan religions or their use of beads. Personally, (maybe I am wrong) I would think for me to be borrowing a pagan tradition as mentioned in the Bible I would have to have known it was a pagan tradition.
As far as the ritualistic part. I DO think they can be used without becoming a ritualistic tool. I do acknowledge that people can use them incorrectly and that they can become an idol to a believer and if used INcorrectly. But really that lies with the individual. Scripture says we are drawn away by our OWN lusts. Maybe only those who are very mature Christians should use them. Those people that I know who do use them have not allowed them to become used merely for ritual. Maybe you have not been witness to them used in a simple “tool” way. I do not know.
I would like to add, there are other tools people use that also turn into “ritualistic endeavors”….some would say prayer journaling for one (mentioned to me just yesterday in fact), or simply dinner prayers we teach our children. Neither of these are wrong, it is in how one uses them.
Like I said before, they are not for everyone, but I would not go as far as saying they can be of no use for anyone.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
I agree the most common known form that other Christian denominations would recognize would be Catholic. This would be most likely especially true with Lutheran, Protestant, Reformed denominations because of coming away from the rcc in the way it did. I think that is specifically why Luther and Calvin spoke against any type of item (ie rosaries, statues of Mary) that had idolic (sp?) connotations.
If we are chatting in your comments about the use of beads in other traditions, I don’t think you can necessarily say you didn’t know about it…LOL.. (I don’t mean that in a mean way.. it just struck my funny bone)
I completely agree with other things being able to become ritualistic. I’m not sure prayer journaling is one since it is not likely you are going to sit down and write the same prayer over and over but it is possible. I guess it matters if you are writing a prayer out and making copies with your name on it and circulating it to everyone you know. If that were to happen then most definitely because It’s not a private thing before you and God anymore and you’ve sought mans approval by circulating it. Does that make sense? I know for me writing a prayer could take even longer than saying a prayer because I force myself to meditate over my words harsher than if I was just praying as I was doing the dishes or walking or folding laundry or just sitting to pray alone.
I completely agree with the Children’s prayers, possibly those even being the most dangerous for repetitiveness with our children because we sometimes definitely do get stuck in that “God is great, God is good” mode. There has to be growth. In Matthew 5, I’m pretty confident Jesus wasn’t saying these are the only words you should use everytime you pray, but an example of a simplistic style that shows God your heart, not the vain and showy words people at that time were using.
In the Philippines, the dashboard Mary’s were icons that only seemed to really remind the taxi drivers they should pray as they flew through red lights at 80 mph. Another experience in the Philippines was the experience of witnessing people “speak in tongues”. I tried to stay in the room but literally felt a clawing at my skin and a shortness of breath. I believe that act of whatever it was had become such a ritualistic thing for them to do that they were allowing themselves to be opened to spiritual warfare except they did not realize it because of how far into it they had allowed themselves to become. They thought it was something they had to do because they were taught to do (which we both know isn’t Biblical). They thought they were worshipping God but I did not feel God’s prescence there. It was their rituals and traditions that were holding them back from seeing the light of Christ in a very dark country.
I went into a bathroom in Mexico that had a virgin Mary. I really wasn’t thinking about praying but I’m sure there are plenty of people who go in and do their cross sign and say a prayer. I don’t know if that is a real prayer or a ritual but I lean towards the latter..
We read Proverbs everyday. That can even become a ritual if it is just a stagnant reading with no growth and no learning every time you read it. We’ve started having the children read it on their own. They know they have to be able to give me a summary of what they read and what stuck out to them the most. How did that particular verse make them think about their own personal growth and walk with God. We changed this because it seemed like it was just becoming a day in day out routine part of school rather than a personal worship time.
Yes, everything has a chance of being ritualistic. I know this is long…sorry..
November 27th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
You Wrote-”If we are chatting in your comments about the use of beads in other traditions, I don’t think you can necessarily say you didn’t know about it…LOL.. (I don’t mean that in a mean way.. it just struck my funny bone)”
When I first wrote this I was not aware, therefore I did not take from the pagan religions…just because I was made aware does not mean I am now copying them.
You wrote-”I’m not sure prayer journaling is one since it is not likely you are going to sit down and write the same prayer over and over but it is possible.”
I do not think that something has to be repetitive(as in identical) to be ritualistic. If you feel a compulsion to do so, I have to do it this way, without meaning then it can be a ritual as well.
Like I said before all these things are tools, it is the individual’s heart and motives in using them.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I do not think that something has to be repetitive(as in identical) to be ritualistic.
true.. Jesus speaks of repition as well as just the use of many flowery words. I have to think on the compulsion thing though. If you are compelled to do something it almost seems natural there would be a reason for it so then it wouldn’t be without meaning. Like I said, I have to think on that one. Never thought of it before really.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
actually, I was just thinking on the following question…
When & how do you differentiate between ritual and discipline? For one to have something as a disciplined activity isn’t it somewhat ritualistic?
just another thing to ponder…
November 27th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
maybe it really all has to do with the heart and the motives and what one person may think is just ritualistic may actually be another persons good & strongly developed discipline….
if so..we must remember that God is the one who tries the hearts and motives of people.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
I have emailed Valerie privately but I didn’t want to put anything on her blog or in your newest post because I don’t think it would be fair to her when she is trying to make money for Christmas. I only posted again on this older post because it didn’t seem like anyone had hopped over from Val’s site.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Disciplined and ritual are diffent in the heart as well as in the results. Ritual is I believe just a rote memorization and carrying out of something you could do in your sleep because you’ve done it so many times before. Discipline is purposefully choosing to do something at a certain time, in a certain way, because it will help draw you closer to God. There is a fine line when the one becomes the other though and that is where the results will show forth whether it is one or the other. I don’t know if its a good example but maybe the Lord’s Supper could be used as an example here. In the disciplined side, you are coming before God with a purpose of remembering Him and you are in prayer the whole time, or at least part of the time (true prayer and not just “please God forgive me for all my sins whatever they are” etc). The ritual side would be just going through the motions. Maybe listening to the music that might be playing, or sitting quietly while waiting for everyone to get their serving. In that case, you’ve moved from disciplined time with God to a ritual that is equal to nothing more than eating a piece of bread/cracker and drinking a bit of juice/wine. The disciplined communion in your heart with God has been replaced with a ritual. Does that make sense?
I did say I believe the beads very well did start with good intentions but it has been the traditions over the years that have turned them into rituals and so they no longer have the meanings that were original.
My largest fears on the prayer beads, are not that good strong disciplined Christians use them and use them properly, but that they are confusing to the world around us and send a mixed messaged. If we are to look different how do we accomplish this when we are using the same sorts of tools and just calling it a different name?
I’m still pondering the compulsion thing
November 28th, 2007 at 6:38 am
I thought I remembered a place in the new testament where Paul speaks of feeling compelled but I can’t find it. I’ve been trying to read the double books of the Bible because it’s been a long time since I’ve read most of them and it seemed a good way to go about it. In 1 Samuel 13:8 Saul speaks of feeling compelled. What are your thoughts on it? Do you remember other passages that speak of someone being compelled? Knowing what the Bible says would help us understand it better.
November 28th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Mike had a great example of feeling compelled — tithing. I didn’t even think of it earlier cause we were talking about beads and other things. He physically feels compelled to tithe and if we put it off one payday to do it the next then he feels an extra compulsion to make sure it goes in the plate. It isn’t because of a see what I’m doing attitude but something that God has strongly put on our hearts this year. We believe it is a test of obediance and because of that desire to obey God and His commands, then we feel that compulsion. I guess that is a good example of compulsion and Saul’s would be a bad example. He really was just making excuses to why he didn’t wait and following God’s commandments.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I was thinking on that, there are good examples and bad examples. When I wrote that I was thinking more along the lines of bad examples. Addiction is a bad example, I was actually thinking more along those lines.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:08 am
My mind is drawing blanks on this…LOL..
Part of me is saying addiction is a compulsion in the bad form is ONLY because of a lack of discipline, like in the example of Saul. I don’t know…
December 4th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Thank you for posting this! I actually bought a bunch from SoCalVal and hey are just beautiful
December 4th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
You are welcome, I glad that this has been a blessing to you! Valerie’s beads are beautiful, she did an excellent job!