How is your prayer life?

The Rev. David Frazelle, Associate for Parish Ministry

How is your prayer life? This is a confusing and uncomfortable question for many Christians. If asked, many of us will respond that we want to "pray better" or "pray more" or that we "should" do so but don't know how. Ironically, discomfort around the topic of prayer prevents us from wanting to approach God in prayer. Some of us feel that something is wrong with us if the liturgy seems dry. Others wonder why we keep praying to God with so many words, since God knows everything already. And yet we all carry with us a longing for God in the depths of our being.

For me and for many other Christians across the globe, Centering Prayer has been a place to go with these concerns about prayer and with our yearning for God. Centering Prayer offers a way for ordinary Christians to live faithful, prayerful lives with extraordinary love.

In a sentence, centering prayer is a contemporary form of an ancient, silent, wordless way of contemplative prayer, or "resting in God." Centering Prayer is the opening of mind and heart - our whole being - to God, beyond thoughts, words and emotions, whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, thinking, feeling and choosing, closer than consciousness itself. It is a process of interior purification leading, if we consent, to union with God.

Centering Prayer is not trendy or glamorous: It offers no quick fixes and it will not get your name in the newspaper. Nor does Centering Prayer aim to cultivate "spiritual feelings," a blank mind, relaxation (although this is often a side-effect), or any other sensory or psychological experience. The principal effects of Centering Prayer are experienced in daily life, not in the time of prayer itself. Namely, the principal effects are increased faith, hope, and love, and the fruit of the Spirit listed by Paul in Galatians 5 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control), expressed in ordinary life.

Centering Prayer is drawn from ancient prayer practices of the Christian contemplative heritage, notably the Desert Fathers, the monastic practice of Lectio Divina (praying the scriptures), The Cloud of Unknowing, St. John of the Cross, and St. Theresa of Avila. It presents this earlier teaching in an accessible form and order. Centering Prayer is Trinitarian in its source, which means that the prayer draws us into the relationship that Jesus has with the Father through the Holy Spirit. It is Christocentric in its focus, which means that the prayer draws us into closer friendship and union with Christ. It is ecclesial in its effects, which means that it builds communities of faith and bonds the members together in charity. Centering Prayer is meant to enhance, not replace, other kinds of prayer.

Centering Prayer is not right for everyone; if it were, then everyone would do it. It is, however, a life-changing discovery for many who learn about this dimension of Christian prayer. One does not need to be introverted or extroverted. One does not need to possess pious feelings or any other set of psychological or emotional capacities. There are no pre-requisites for this extremely simple prayer. If you are attracted to silence, or if you long for God, then you may wish to try Centering Prayer. I invite you to the Introduction to Centering Prayer offered at the September 17 Quiet Day, and to the follow-up sessions on the following Tuesday afternoons. Detailed information is on the following page.

Portions of this article were adapted from The Method of Centering Prayer brochure, by Thomas Keating, 1995, St. Benedict's Monastery.

Send items for inclusion in future "Cross Roads."
The deadline is the first Thursday of the preceeding month.

© 2005 The Chapel of the Cross