Centering Prayer is an ancient practice of meditative prayer that focuses on not
saying things to God, but just being with God. This can be hard for some people
because this form of prayer relies very little on words…..it is just focuses on
being with God and giving Him our undivided attention. Sometimes this type of prayer may not seem
like ‘real’ prayer because we are not giving God our concerns of petitions, but
when we pray this way we are concerned with ‘dwelling’ with God and letting God
give us a greater awareness His work in the world.
I encourage you to use this type of prayer at least once during the week
as a way of just sitting at the manger to glorify God and let God work in your
life. Below is a short method for
practicing centering prayer.
1. Set aside a minimum of 15 minutes (increase the time if you can). Set
a timer if that helps you to be less concerned about when to stop.
2. Settle into a comfortable position.
3. Intentionally place yourself in the presence of God, in the center of
His love.
4. Choose a simple word, phrase, or verse of scripture that expresses
your desire for God (e.g., love, peace, grace, Jesus, etc..) Let this word
guard your attention.
5. Take time to become quiet. It is not unusual for the first minutes to
be filled with many noisy thoughts. Don’t worry about them or pay attention to
them. Let them go. Gently return your attention to the center of God’s presence
and love by repeating your word. Let that word draw you back to Jesus. Just be
with Jesus. Listen. Be Still. When distractions come think of this image to
return you to Jesus:
-imagine that God’s river of life runs through you.
Deep down the river is calm and slow, but on the surface it is raging and
rushing with debris. Imagine that the distracting thoughts are debris floating
down the current. You don’t capture these thoughts…..you just let God’s river
of life take them away. Then gently return to Jesus with your prayer word.
6. Rest in the center of God’s
love throughout the time allotted. Trust that the Holy Spirit , who abides in
the depths of you spirit, will connect you with God.
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