Overview
Prayer is both listening and speaking to the Divine. Below are proven Christian practices that help us listen to and speak to God in ways that shape our lives for the better.
Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is a contemplative way of reading the Bible. It dates back to the early centuries of the Christian Church and was established as a monastic practice by Benedict in the 6th century. It is a way of praying the scriptures that leads us deeper into God’s word. We slow down. We read a short passage more than once. We chew it over slowly and carefully. We savour it. Scripture begins to speak to us in a new way. It speaks to us personally, and aids that union we have with God through Christ who is himself the Living Word.
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Daily Examen
“The examen, or examination of conscience, is a quick prayer to help you see where God was active in your day. Usually done for 15 to 20 minutes at the end of a day, the prayer was popularized by St. Ignatius Loyola in his classic text The Spiritual Exercises. Use these five easy steps to pray the examen every day, and soon you’ll begin to notice God’s presence more easily.” - James Martin, Jesuit Priest
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Meditation
What is meditation? Meditation is a mindfulness practice that has been around for thousands of years. Forms of meditation exist in nearly every religious tradition, including Christianity. You may know it by another name, such as prayer or contemplation. Meditation techniques are simple and can be learned in a few minutes or hours, but they take a lifetime of practice to master (or, rather, be mastered by!). Meditation is just one of many contemplative experiences that we teach at the Center for Action and Contemplation.
First and foremost, meditation is a practice of self-emptying. At its most basic, meditation is letting go—of our habitual thoughts, preferences, judgments, and feelings. . . . Meditation teaches us to live in an undefended way. Little by little we let go of the need to prove ourselves right or superior. We discover that we are not so different from others. We tap into our immense, God-given source of compassion and kindness. Meditation retrains our minds and hearts to know true humility and love.
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Contemplation
Contemplative prayer, remaining silently and openly in God’s presence, “rewires” our brains to think non-dually with compassion, kindness, and a lack of attachment to the ego’s preferences.
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Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer is a receptive 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 Christ.