"Lord, teach us to pray." - Centering Prayer

I have been thinking a lot about my blog site and how it can be of more use to for the greater good of the larger community. That said, for the next couple of months, I am going to devote Wednesday’s post to prayer and the practices of prayer. This will be a good exercise for the writer as well as the reader. The discipline will encourage me to spend more time being quiet and centering thoughts for the journey which lies ahead.

“Lord, teach us to pray…”, the disciples asked. Like many persons in our own time, these men and women were seeking for a practice that would bring them closer to God or to a new revelation of God. Apart from the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus did not offer much advice on the subject. He did suggest that we keep it secret (Matt. 6:5-6), keep it uninflated (Mart. 6:7-8) and, pray with great confidence (Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:1-5; Matt. 7:7-11; Mark 11:23-24).

A couple of years ago, I spent a week at the Chautauqua Institute in upstate New York. In the bookstore, I came across a book entitled “50 Ways to Pray” written by Teresa Blythe. She is a writer, spiritual director and serves as the Program Coordinator for the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, Arizona. Her book has stimulated my thought process and the exercises, which Blythe suggests will be useful to us on our journey. You can purchase a copy of her work by clicking here.

Most people, I think, believe that prayer is a one way conversation to some Deity, whom we call God, who resides somewhere beyond the cosmic universe. We tell God what is on our mind, asking for divine intervention in the world’s problems, and offering thanks for the blessings we have received. Too often, it is usually a one sided conversation. Yes?

Don’t you hate being on the phone with another human being and they do all the talking? I wonder what God thinks when we do the same in our prayers.

So, my first suggestion is that we pray using the gift of silence.

Many of you have experienced Centering Prayer. It is a type of praying that grounds us or “centers” us in the presence of God. I am not sure who was originally responsible for the creation of such a prayer discipline, but the leader of the Centering prayer movement in our time has been the Cistercian priest Thomas Keating. Blythe writes: “Keating points to the many mystics and holy people throughout the ages who referred to a kind of prayer in which ‘deep calls to deep’ without words or imagery” (50 Ways to Pray, page 32). Thomas Keating, in his own work, Invitation to Love, writes: “Silence is God’s first language; everything else is a poor translation.”

“Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer - verbal, mental or affective prayer - into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him” (Centeringprayertampabay.com).

When I first started in Centering Prayer, way back in those glorious seminary days, the silence was overwhelming! Sitting in silence, back in my room in Dodge Hall with a window overlooking twenty-first street, every noise in the city seemed to distract me and my mind would wander thinking about all those things which I needed to be doing. I hated the experience!

But through the years, and aided by friends, colleagues and spiritual directors, I have come to appreciate and enjoy the silence; the awesomeness of that stillness; and the ability to find God, like Elijah, in that ‘still small voice’. Be patient as you engage in this exercise. It will take time for you to find that place of silence; of being centered. But, it will come.

I use a word or phrase to help me center. For example: “Be still and know that I am God” from Psalm 46 is one of my favorite passages in all of the Scriptures. Every time I feel myself being pulled away from the center – I simply repeat that sentence to myself and refocus my energies.

Here are some helpful suggestions:

Choose a set period of time – 10, 20, or 30 minutes. Remember you do not start out running by competing in a marathon. Take a small amount of time and work your way up.

Choose a word or phrase that fits your image of God – this does not have to be some great theological undertaking! (God is Love. God is Compassionate. Be still and know that I am God.) Whatever your word or phrase is will be okay for it is your word.

This prayer is to be done seated. So find a comfortable chair and remember to sit with both feet on the ground. Shift your weight as needed during the exercise. Hands should be placed comfortably in your lap - such as you see in the photogrpah to your right: open and ready to receive.

Now, invite God to be present (such an invitation!). But God desires a relationship with you. Be still now… and enter into the silence of prayer.

When other thoughts come to mind – like: What is for dinner this evening? Or what was that sound I just heard outside the window? Or I really should not be spending this time being quiet with all of the other things I have to get done today – simply go back to that word or phrase you choose and center once again.

As time draws to a close, I do two things. First, I give God thanks for being in this moment. Second, I conclude my time of prayer by reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

Teresa Blythe suggests that you keep a journal reflecting on your experience. Some questions that she suggests are:

• What was the experience like for you?
• What was the hardest part of the prayer?
• What part of the prayer seemed effortless?
• What was going on inside your mind? What feelings did it bring up?
• Did you feel closer to God as a result?
• How does it feel to move from thoughts to silence?
• How does awareness change as we stop what we are doing?

Good!

We are off on our weekly spiritual journey. I will share other prayer exercises in the weeks ahead. Write to me with your questions, comments or suggestions. May the Lord bless you on this journey of faith.

Love One Another - Brian