Contemplation 2 – Basics

St Clement's church, Rodel, Isle of Harris

As I will try to explain in another post, contemplative prayer is something you can do anywhere, any time, in any situation. But this informal life of prayer is most likely to come about if it rests on a more structured basis. So you need to find somewhere you can be alone for the period of time you have chosen – for example a room in your house where you can close the door and not be disturbed.

If you can manage it, you should try to pray at about the same time and in the same place each day. This helps to establish a rhythm. If you want to pray on a regular basis then rhythm and habit will support you. I find that earlier in the day is better, partly because the prayer does not get squeezed out by the pressures of daily life, partly because I am simply more awake at that time. But everyone is different.

Posture is important. I find it helps to sit down in a reasonably upright and comfortable chair. I have a favourite armchair for this. Too hard and you will spend the time feeling uncomfortable (this is one of the drawbacks of silent prayer in a church pew). Too soft and you risk falling asleep.

Your body will mostly arrange itself, but what to do with your hands? The general advice is to rest your hands on your legs, palms down. This is possibly the most natural way. Sometimes, if you go deep into this kind of prayer, you may find that your hands become heavy and warm. I can only explain this in terms of a natural energy flowing through the body.

Take a few moments to settle. Relax your body. Close your eyes and let your breathing become slow and regular. It can help to listen to your breathing as it goes in and out.

Of course, this is no more than you would do for any relaxation exercise, whether linked to religious practice or not. So what is specifically Christian about this way of prayer? The difference is that you seek to place yourself in the presence of God and invite him into your prayer. You offer ourself to God and let the Spirit get to work.

And then you wait in the silence, for as long or short a period of time as you have set aside. For anyone new to this, 5 or 10 minutes may be enough to start. As you become more used to it, you might want to extend the time spent in prayer. In the tradition I have chosen (again, more on this another time), the standard is 30 minutes once a day, with a suitable short reading to start and finish.

As for what happens – well, experience varies. You may find yourself pursued by distracting thoughts, especially if your life is very busy. Or may find it easier to become still and you may be aware of a peacefulness inside you. Or you may find that nothing seems to happen at all and you wonder if this is just a waste of time. The important point is that none of this matters, because it is not you doing the praying, it is God working inside you to transform you in ways which are hidden rather than obvious. The quality of your prayer is judged not by how you feel at the time, but by the effect it has on you afterwards.

There are so many quotations from Christian writers that I could share to illuminate these points. Today I call to mind something written by the North American contemplative Cynthia Bourgeault in her book Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (Cowley Publications, 2004). In her tradition they call it Centering Prayer but it is basically the same kind of prayer that I describe. She writes:

What goes on in those silent depths during the time of Centering Prayer is no one’s business, not even your own; it is between your innermost being and God; that place where, as St. Augustine once said, ‘God is closer to your soul than you are yourself.’ Your own subjective experience of the prayer may be that nothing happened – except for the more-or-less continuous motion of letting go of thoughts. But in the depths of your being, in fact, plenty has been going on, and things are quietly but firmly being rearranged.

Tags: Contemplative prayer