Bringing depth with the prayer nut

How wonderful that, as a church community, at the start of a new season, we can get to work with something tangible like a prayer nut!

Pauliene writes:

Wiebe has transformed a wooden block, which he received in church, into a prayer nut: a small portable ‘little nut’ that can help you in your prayer life. This prayer nut may go home with someone each week and then be passed on again. Read all about the how and what here.

The story behind the prayer nut

Wiebe van Dingen:

“Not long ago, on entering church, we found a wooden block on every chair. We were invited to write a word on the blocks: a concern, a wish or a prayer for the congregation. Afterwards the blocks were placed on a dish at the front of the church.

I did not write on my block. Nor did I hand it in. My attention was drawn to the inside of the block. How a human life develops. What is in it, what comes out. Even the ‘aroma of Christ’. I took the block home and transformed it into a (travel) altar. I sawed it, sanded it and fitted a hinge. This way it reminds me, and I pray for the things I consider important. From it I have made four little prayer nuts, which will each go on a journey, in our church community too. In this way the idea gets a natural continuation: it deepens into personal prayer and broadens out to the church worldwide.”

What is a little prayer nut?

Wiebe has been making these small objects for some time. Here he tells how he came to do so:

“In the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam someone once pointed out to me an object from the Middle Ages: a sphere of boxwood. It was divided into two halves. Both halves had been very finely carved so that all sorts of little scenes could be seen very clearly. I remember, for instance, the birth and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. These halves could swing open on a hinge like a little cabinet. The whole thing sat in a copper sphere, which in turn sat in a little leather pouch. The whole gospel in a nutshell. It was clear that this had been made to take along on a journey.

After some years I came up with the idea of bringing this prayer nut back to life in a different way. Now it is flat and blank, but users can write their own prayer need into the nut by means of a name, date, symbol and so on. The nut is easy to store, so you always carry your prayer with you. When your prayer has been answered, or when you feel it has been in there long enough, you take a small piece of sandpaper and there is room for something new again.”

The prayer nut made from the block

Now that the block has been turned into a prayer nut, it can be used by anyone who wishes. From week to week, from Sunday to Sunday, this congregation’s prayer nut passes from person to person. Anyone who wants to pray for the needs of the congregation can use it each time.

Passing it on in the congregation

Wiebe:

“It would also be lovely if those who take the little prayer nut home for a week would think back to the word they wrote themselves and bring that into prayer too, perhaps as a longing for the congregation or for themselves (how can I do my bit, or how can I grow in that?).

The prayer nut is deliberately small, so that you can simply carry it in your pocket. It does not say what you may pray for; you can decide for yourself what is important in your eyes. Trust that you receive those thoughts from God.”

A sign-up list will be hung on the noticeboard in the church, on which you can indicate which week you would like to carry the prayer nut. You receive it on Sunday and pass it on the following Sunday to the person who comes after you on the list. If no one is on the list, you might be able to hand the prayer nut to someone over coffee. Do note this on the list, though.

From this coming Sunday a list will hang on the noticeboard in the hall. On it you can indicate which week you would like to take the prayer nut. The Sunday after, you then pass it on to the next person on the list. The prayer nut has been made as a small (travel) altar, to be a blessing through prayer.