TODD'S TAPPING INTO PRAYER NOW RECIPE

(Please read the DISCLAIMER before reading. Continued reading indicates that you accept the terms stated therein)

Here is my “basic recipe” for Tapping Into Prayer Now. It is a derivation of the process created by Gary Craig, the founder of EFT. Gary is pretty specific about how this process works, so I am quite sure that he would not approve of or endorse my “recipe.” That said, the basic TAPPING PRAYER may be done on oneself or a partner may facilitate the “tapping” process.

Because tapping prayer is reliant on focusing our intentions on a particular issue,  it is important to identify a place of anxiety or discomfort in yourself or the individual you are praying with.

Basic Recipe

• 1. Decide on an issue to focus on. Rate the issue on a scale of 0-10 regarding how upsetting the issue is to you.(This number is called a Subjective Unit of Distress, or SUD). This is important, because later on  it will help you assess the shifting of the Spirit, and if/where there are other areas around the issue that need healing.
  2. Offer a prayer of awareness and thanksgiving in anticipation of the healing
  3. Create a set up statement for your prayer,”Even though I have this specific problem...”
  4. Create an affirming statement for your prayer. This statement makes room for God’s hope to enter into the equation: “...I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.”
  • NOTE: some people do not believe this to be true, in which case you need to modify this statement to something they can believe such as, “ I can consider being fully loved and deeply accepted by God/the Holy/Jesus....” or “I deserve to be deeply loved and completely accepted by the Holy.”
  5. Begin tapping at the karate chop point while stating the set up and affirming statement together. For example: “Even though I have (this specific problem), I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.” I use 3 fingers to cover the most space when I am prayer tapping. You can use one hand or two (more about that later). After tapping on the karate chop point while saying the set up/affirming statement three times, move on to other tapping points. At each of the other tapping points, tap 5-10 times while saying the set up/affirming statement. See diagram for details.
  • Karate chop (area below the small finger and wrist). State the set up and affirming statements 3X while tapping here.

• Karate chop x 3
• Top of head
• eye brow
• outer eye
• under eye
• under nose
• under lip
• collarbone
• under arm
• wrists
• Second time through, start at top of head and just use set up phrase and additional details of your problem on all points
• Third time through, alternate between set up phrase and affirming statement. End with whole statement on top of head.
• End with a deep breath and a word of thanks to the Holy for working to bring your soul toward peace.,
• Evaluate on a scale of 1-10 how the issue feels to you. Note any residual issues that might have come up during the tapping prayer. Ask God to guide you in tapping on those issues.

Here is a link to an excellent video re: tapping. It is a little bit different from the order I suggest, but it will demonstrate the basic motions involved: How to Tap Video . I should mention that although The Tapping Solution does not focus on tapping as a spiritual discipline it is a great resource for tapping information.

*Additional Resources: http://tappingintoprayernow.blogspot.com/ , thetappingsolution.com, eftuniverse.com, garythink.com

I am available for individual tapping prayer as well as group demonstrations in your community. Please contact me at tapping.into.prayer.now@gmail.com for more information about scheduling tapping prayer.

THURSDAY THUMP: prayer tapping on grief

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” --John 11

Beliefs around death in the first century were as diverse as they are today. Some people believed that when a person died, he or she simply ceased to exist. End of story. Some people believed in a resurrection of the body...or the soul...a continuation of the story in some mysterious form. Some people believed that the dead were reborn into new bodies here on earth. Each belief system created unique philosophical responses to death, but the common thread that still strings these and other beliefs together is, grief.

Grief is our response to the death of someone. The response might be spiritual, or emotional, or physical. It might involve crying, or shutting down, or wailing, or withdrawing. It is often accompanied by sadness, anger, denial, emptiness, wistfulness, relief, guilt...or some combination of the aforementioned. Grief can be pretty clear cut or pretty complicated depending on the circumstances surrounding the death or our relationship with the one who has died.

To that end, prayer tapping on grief is a pretty personal thing. It invites the Holy to attend to some very intimate and labyrinthine issues.

• Perhaps we feel guilty about feeling relieved by someone’s death.
• • Maybe we feel the person deserved to die and we are angry.
• • Maybe the persons death caught us by surprise.
• • Maybe there was violence around the persons death
• • Maybe the person died as a result of an accident or war.

• The person might have committed suicide and we are left with a lot of questions and a lot of feelings that are all overwhelming our system at the same time.

• We might cry out like the sisters of Lazarus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

The good news is, God is here with us in our grief. Jesus weeps for the pain and confusion we are experiencing, and more, He is willing and able to attend to our hurting places by way of the Holy Spirit.

If you are grieving today, take a moment to write down the unique feelings you are experiencing around your loss.

Look at the list, and try assigning a SUD from 0-10 to each feeling, depending on how strongly you are enduring that feeling. If you are new to tapping prayer, check out my basic recipe here before proceeding.

Choose one feeling that is bothering you. You may want to choose something with a low number to begin with or, you may want to dive into the deep end of the pool and get right to the tough stuff. God will be there to attend to your concerns in any order you choose to focus the Holy’s healing love. Do what feels safest to you.

Once you have chosen a feeling around your grief, please take responsibility for your participation in tapping prayer, and let’s pray!

Karate chop: My heart is heavy with grief, God. My soul is overwhelmed with feelings that are associated with...............’s death. I am overwhelmed with feelings about..................’s death. I’m going to try and focus on one feeling now, and when I am at peace with it, I may come to you again with another feeling about …............’s death. I may not. I’ve got a lot happening in me right now. I don’t know which way to turn, but I find myself turning to this tapping prayer today, and so I ask that you would bring me some healing through it. Even though I am feeling..............around my loss, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though I feel............around..............death, I am completely loved and deeply accepted by God. Even though I have this...........response to ….............death, I am held in God’s constant love and acceptance.

Top of head: I have this...........feeling.

Eyebrow: I am so.............about............death.

Outer eye: I feel............

Under eye: I have this overwhelming sense of..............

Under nose: I can’t shake this feeling of..................

Under lip: This deep …..........

Collarbone: I feel..............

Underarms: I am...............

Wrists: This …......feeling is keeping me from peace.

Top of head: Even though I feel.........I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Eyebrow: I wonder if I’ll always feel this..... grief?

Outer eye: I think I can feel this........in my body.

Under eye: This overwhelming...........is getting in the way of feeling peace.

Under nose: I might have unfinished business with........that is contributing to this feeling of .............

Under lip: Even if I have unfinished business with..... that is contributing to this feeling of ...........I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Collarbone: I am experiencing a SUD of …..around this aspect of my grief.

Wrists: I have so much grief effecting my life.

Top of head: Even though I have all this...........grief, I am deeply loved and held in God’s tender care.

Eyebrow: ..(name of person who died)..is deeply loved and held in God’s tender care.

Outer eye: Maybe I can forgive myself for feeling.......about..........’s death.

Under eye: Maybe I can forgive anyone who may have contributed to...........’s death.

Under nose: Even if I can forgive myself and everyone else who may have contributed to.......death, and even if I can forgive.........for dying, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Under lip: Maybe I don’t have to hold onto this...........grief forever.

Collarbone: I have this...............grief in my soul.

Wrists: I am feeling..........about …......death.

Top of head: Even though I am feeling.......about........death, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

and take a deep breath...Thank you God for being with me in my feelings around..........’s death. Thank you for sending your healing spirit to attend to my needs. Amen.

When you are ready, test your intensity around the feeling you were asking help for. What is the SUD associated with it now? Higher? Lower? Same? Where has God brought you new insights into your feelings about.....’s death? If your SUD is lower, you are beginning to heal with God’s help. Keep prayer tapping on the issue until it gets to a 0-2, and then move on to another feeling on your list. If your SUD went up, check to see if the issue you began with might be gone, and you have moved to a more intense feeling. If so, apply the prayer to that issue until your SUD goes down to a 0-2. If your SUD stayed the same, drink a glass of water and then try the prayer again. Sometimes if we are dehydrated, our awareness of God’s spirit is diminished.

If it would be helpful to use this prayer one on one, please contact me at tapping.into.prayer.now@gmail.com and we can set up a time to work on your grief, together.

Peace,

Todd

Maundy Thursday tapping on being betrayed

19 And Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[a] 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

--Luke 22: 19-23 (Message)

Sometimes you know it’s coming. Sometimes you don’t. Either way, when we are betrayed by someone we care about, it hurts. Deeply. It feels like a tearing or breaking of our soul. Jesus must have been experiencing something of that hurt. The disappointment. The anger. The frustration. The wondering if he was to blame...or, if not, why his friend would do this terrible thing to him?

As readers of the story, we get a little glimpse into Judas’ motivation, but in our lives, that doesn’t always happen. We are left holding the bag of questions and hurt. It’s a lousy bag to hold.

God wants to help us let go of that bag. The Holy is pulling for us to find peace, even around the acts of betrayal that we have endured.

Are you holding a bag of betrayal? What is the SUD attached to that particular bag? If you aren’t sure what a SUD is, check out my basic recipe here. When you’re ready, please take responsibility for your participation in this prayer, and let’s pray...

God, it must have been so hard to know that your friend was going to betray you. Even after you announced that he was going to do it! I get it. I’m in that place, too. I have been betrayed and I need some peace around that loss in my life.

Karate Chop: Even though I have been betrayed, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though someone I trusted has hurt me, my God has got my back. Even though I am holding this bag of betrayal, I am completely loved and deeply accepted by God.

Top of Head: This bag of betrayal.

Eyebrow: It’s so heavy.

Outer eye: It hurts so much.

Under eye: I trusted that person and I was betrayed.

Under nose: It’s hard to trust now, because if a close friend could do that to me, why not someone who doesn’t care about me?

Under lip: I’m holding this betrayal.

Collarbone: I’m holding this anger.

Underarm: I’m holding this sadness.

Wrists: All this betrayal.

Top of head: Even though I’m holding this bag of betrayal, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Eyebrow: I wonder if I could hand this bag off to God?

Outer eye: God could probably handle it better than I could.

Under eye: I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Under nose: Maybe s/he had a reason for betraying me.

Under lip: That doesn’t mean it was right to do.

Collarbone: I can consider forgiving my friend for betraying me.

Underarm: I can consider forgiving myself for being betrayed.

Wrists: Even if I let go of all this betrayal, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Top of Head: Even though I have this bag of betrayal, I am extraordinarily loved and accepted by God. I am given God’s spirit of healing. I am given God’s spirit of grace. I am given God’s spirit to move on with my life in peace.

Eyebrow: I have this peace. I have God’s peace.

Take a deep breath...and then check your SUD around being betrayed. You may have to do a couple of rounds on the problem of the betrayal. Remember that the more specific you are with the language around a particular act of betrayal you experienced, the more effective God’s spirit will travel your holy pathways and bring you peace. If while you are praying you feel your SUD rise, go back to whatever the particular issue was that caused that spike, and use prayer tapping to direct God’s healing on that concern.

May you find peace even in the midst of those who betray you.

--todd
ps. Next blog will be on Good Friday re: death of a loved one.