Centering Prayer

When you pray, go into your inner room and close your door to pray to your Father who is in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will pay you back.

Matthew 6:6

It looks like Covid-19 is with us for yet a while.  I mentioned centering prayer when we started isolating ourselves, but most of what I have done in this blog has been about meditating on the Bible (lectio divina.)  We begin that by using our head.  Centering prayer is a prayer of the heart.  Here are four recommended steps.

1. Choose a sacred word as a symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within you.

2. Sitting comfortably with eyes closed, settle yourself briefly, and silently start saying your chosen word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within you.

3. When you become aware that you are thinking of something, return ever so gently to your sacred word.

4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a few minutes.

When I began centering prayer forty years ago I could do it for only 5 minutes, but within a month I could do it for 20 minutes.  I didn't want to go any longer than that, so I began setting an alarm.  Two books that were helpful were Thomas Keating's Open Mind, Open Heart and Basil Pennington's Centering Prayer.