May 2026

A Contemplative Exercise for May 2026

The following is a possible framework for the Witnessing of the Word. It can be personalised or altered: its purpose is to serve as an example of how this Saying might be used primarily in the context of a Prayer Group, but it may be used by individuals too. It is not intended to be definitive.  In the context of a group: the periods of silence should be appropriate for your group - probably not less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes.

Saying for the month: Ezekiel 37.14: ‘I will put my spirit in you and you will live’ (JB). In your time of contemplation, you may like to shorten this to: ‘I will put my spirit in you’.

To begin the exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still; you may want to relax your way through your muscles or you may find it helpful to become aware of the sounds around you and then put them aside as you offer this time of prayer to God.

Say this introductory invitation to prayer, then keep a further minute or two of silence:  ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11.28).

Introduction to the first silence - a preparation for listening with the mind:

‘I will put my spirit in you and you will live’.

These words come from the famous passage of the valley of dry bones being given life.

The first section of the book of Ezekiel (chapters 1-35) is focused on Ezekiel prophesying against the people of Israel and the surrounding nations. It was probably written during a time of exile when the elite and middle classes had been carried off into exile and the poor left to work the land. Ezekiel is called and compelled by God to prophesy misery and woe to the leaders and all Israel in sharp distinction to the court prophets and prophets of other Gods, whose acknowledged role is to prophesy only success and good things to the rulers and the people. Ezekiel is God’s mouthpiece and tells it like it is.

The Hebrew word for prophet carries with it a dual meaning as it is derived from two verbs – ‘to call’ and ‘to speak’. So God’s prophet is ‘called by God’ to ‘call out’ unjust practices and selfish leaders who act for their own profit rather than the common good. The prophet is to speak in God’s name to the people to call them to repentance and to urge them to follow God’s ways

In chapter 36 however the tone of Ezekiel’s words dramatically changes, and he prophesies to the mountains and the people of Israel that God will restore their fortunes and bring them back from exile. This is not because they deserve it, but because God does not want His name to continue to be disgraced among the nations because of the plight of His people. God wants to proclaim among the nations once again that the LORD is God, and there is no other. So, in words echoing Genesis 1 and our first story of creation, God declares the generous restoration of God’s people Israel.

By chapter 37, from where our Saying comes, God declares: ‘I will put my Spirit in you and you will live’. The hand of the Lord is on Ezekiel and he is given a vision where he is placed in the middle of a valley of bones. Ezekiel walks among the bones: it is a place of mass slaughter. These bones have clearly been there for a long time: there is no trace of flesh on them and they are very dry and brittle, on the point of turning to dust. Yet God asks Ezekiel: ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’. The obvious answer is: ’Surely not’, yet Ezekiel replies: ‘O Sovereign Lord, you alone know’. So God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones that the Sovereign Lord will put spirit into them, attach tendons to the bones, then flesh, then skin, then the breath of life. And as he is prophesying there is a rattling sound and the bones come together and are enfleshed, but they are not alive. Then God directs Ezekiel to command that breath and spirit enter into these bodies that they may live and so they stand up: a vast army.

God reveals to Ezekiel the meaning of this vision. The people of Israel say: ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone: we are cut off’. In response God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to them: ‘O my people, I will bring you back to the land of Israel’. God says metaphorically that their graves will be opened, and God will bring them up from them. Then the passage concludes with our verse: ‘I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord’.

God here offers the ultimate hope to His people: they will know resurrection, they will know recreation, they will indeed live.

We take this Saying into our minds, allowing the saying to speak to us: ‘I will put my spirit in you and you will live’.

A time is now kept for silence of the mind – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes.  The silence concludes with a short thanksgiving, and/or feel free to repeat the Saying.

The first silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word.

Introduction to the second silence - a preparation for listening with the heart:

‘I will put my spirit in you and you will live’.

These words were originally spoken to a people who felt dead and buried. They were without hope – desolate. They felt punished and abandoned. And yet God breathed new life into them.

Where do we feel lost and hopeless? Is there a situation in your life where it feels like there is only despair? Can we breathe this Saying of godly hope into our own places of desolation: ‘I will put my Spirit in you and you will live’.

The dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision did not suddenly spring to life at God’s words. There was a process to their re-enervation.  It is one from which we can learn in contemplation and apply to our own lives.

The dry bones were first connected together by tendons. Where do we feel ourselves to be disconnected? Where do the communities and groups we belong to lack the connection that builds up our common life and leads to more love in the world?

After the tendons the bones were given flesh – muscle and organs. Where do we need more strength to be able to do God’s will? Where do we need more heart, or stomach, or brainpower to be able to respond to God’s call more effectively?

The bones were then covered with skin and hair to protect the body and make them fit to be seen. Where do we need protection and greater self-confidence? Where are the places where we need to feel more secure?

Finally the bones, tendons, flesh and skin were given breath and spirit, and they lived. Where do we need God to breathe new life into us? In what way do we need God to put his Spirit in us that we may truly live? Where in our lives do we need God to breathe the Spirit that we may truly live life in all its fullness?

Now, with all these questions borne in mind, let’s take this word into our hearts, as we allow Jesus’ words to speak in us, to let it touch us and let it work more deeply upon our lives.

‘I will put my spirit in you and you will live’.

A time is now kept for silence of the heart – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes.

The second silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you that your Word is alive and within us.

Introduction to the time of intercession – taking God’s word outwards into the world.

‘I will put my spirit in you and you will live’.

Is there a situation in the life of someone you love where it feels like there is only despair? Or are there situations in our world where it is hard not to feel despair or hopelessness? Can we prayerfully breathe this Saying of godly hope into those places of desolation? ‘I will put my Spirit in you and you will live’.

Say the name of a person or a group of people, and after a short pause, repeat the saying. For example:

‘Alison and your family, God says “I will put my spirit in you and you will live”’.

or

‘Alison and your family, God says “I will put my spirit in you”’.

As we allow the word to speak through us we might direct Jesus’ word towards those people and situations where there is suffering, hurt and an absence of joy and where abiding in Christ would bring comfort.  Conclude this time of intercession with words of thanksgiving: Father, we thank you that your Word has gone out through us to those for whom we pray.

The Conclusion

Feel free to use the Fellowship Prayer (below) or another closing prayer to conclude your time of contemplative prayer:

Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness, ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that we do. Amen

You may wish to say the Grace together before departing.