The Sacred Pause:
Learning to Notice God in the Everyday
At our recent Contemplative Prayer Workshop, Jared and Dominique Dawson invited us to consider a simple but transformative question: What would it look like to become more attentive to God’s presence in our everyday lives? Click here to read overview of the workshop.
Contemplative prayer isn’t about escaping our lives or adding something complicated to our already-full schedule. It’s about slowing down, becoming present, and learning to notice the God who is already present with us.
Throughout the workshop, we explored practices like breath prayer and the Daily Examen—simple ways of creating space to be with God, listen, and become more aware of His presence.
As we begin putting these practices into action, we’re introducing The Sacred Pause.
What Is the Sacred Pause?
The Sacred Pause is a simple, 60-second practice designed to help us bring our awareness back to God throughout the day.
Choose one ordinary transition in your day:
Getting in the car
Walking into work
Waiting for your coffee
Before picking up your kids
Sitting down at your desk
Any other moment when you naturally move from one thing to another
Instead of immediately reaching for your phone or moving on to the next thing, pause for 60 seconds.
Take a breath. Become aware of where you are. And pray something like . . .
“God, you are here. Help me notice you.”
Then simply sit with that truth.
You don't have to make the moment profound. You don't have to have the right words. The invitation is simply to pause long enough to remember: God is here.
Why a Sacred Pause?
One of the things we talked about in the workshop is that contemplative prayer is less about adding more to our lives and more about learning to be present to the life God has already given us.
The Sacred Pause helps us integrate prayer into our existing rhythms rather than finding another 30 minutes in our schedule.
Over time, these small pauses can reshape the way we move through our days. A moment that once felt ordinary can become an opportunity to notice God, receive His presence, and remember that we are never alone.
Start This Week
Choose one transition and try the Sacred Pause each day for the next week.
To help you remember, we've created three different lock screens for your phone. Choose the one that works best for you, download it, and let it serve as a simple reminder to pause and notice God throughout your day.
Pause. Breathe. Notice.
God is here.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD
