Contemplative Prayer
Hearing the Word of God in the silence of our heart
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvellous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.Psalm 131:1-2 NRSV
A practice to help us grow into spiritual maturity:
Here’s a wide view, as I see it, of our situation. We are created for union with God and one another. In one sense, we are already united with God in Jesus Christ since divinity and humanity are united in him. But from where we stand, this finished work is still in process, which means there is work for us to do. Thankfully, God enables us to have the will to do the work (Phil. 2:13).
The way to union through Christ is always love. Eternal, living, vibrant love is how we got here; love is how we are sustained in each moment; and love is our destination. Therefore, our primary function in this world is always love. By divine grace, we are created to grow into spiritual maturity by loving God and neighbor, seeking whatever is truly good and leads to flourishing life. There is so much more to say here, but that’s my quick take.
Those followers of Christ who came before us developed various disciplines and practices to help us in this process of spiritual growth. Generally speaking, spiritual practices are habits that we form in order to prepare the ground, our inmost being, for growth. We prepare; God brings the growth. One practice that I have found especially helpful is contemplative prayer. Various methods and approaches to contemplative prayer have been developed over the centuries. No one approach is written in stone, which means you can use and develop a practice that fits your time constraints and needs.
I will share more detail regarding my own practice and experience in later posts. I'm convinced that contemplative prayer will benefit anyone who develops a practice. And, I’m convinced it can help us to love others as we are loved by Christ. Of course, every spiritual practice should engender our function to love, but there is something about contemplative prayer that draws us out of ourselves and encourages a broader, more inclusive love.
Importantly, and this can’t be said enough, there is nothing secret or esoteric about contemplative prayer. If there is anything secret or hidden, it is the nature of the transcendent God who speaks the divine Word in our hearts. Unfortunately, a good bit of prejudice and ignorance, especially among Protestants, has kept this spiritual practice away from too many followers of Christ. That should not be. In this post, I’ll give a rough sketch of how I understand this practice. In later posts, I will share some of the insights and methods from our rich history of Christian mysticism and contemplative prayer.
A rough sketch of contemplative prayer:
“In contemplation the activity of the senses and of discursive reflection terminates, and God alone is the agent who then speaks secretly to the solitary and silent soul.” (St. John of the Cross p.690)1
In my opinion, what most methods of contemplative prayer are trying to develop is the habit of being attentive to the divine presence. Forming this kind of habit is simple but not easy; our minds are very, very busy. Everything we can perceive or think about will try to turn our attention to something else, anything else. Try giving God your undivided attention for ten minutes. You might be surprised at the mundane things you would rather think about. Still, in a very basic sense, that’s the idea. Contemplative prayer is a practice of being attentive to God’s ubiquitous presence. More specifically, at least for the practice I have learned, contemplative prayer means sitting in the stillness and silence, attending to the divine presence with the heart (significantly, not with the mind). It’s not complicated, but it does take effort.
“God is a God of the present.” (Meister Eckhart p.500)2
God is always attentive to us. The eternal gaze of divine love permeates and sustains all being. When it comes to contemplative prayer, it helps to recognize that when we turn our attention to God, the attention immediately becomes mutual. In this world, there is no other way for this mutuality to happen unless we turn our attention. How could it be otherwise? This simple act of repentance, of turning our attention to God, is a form of the union for which we are created. And, the possibility for this mutuality and union is always there, waiting for us. Divine love is always knocking on the door of our heart.
This mutual attention, coupled with a desire for good, is at the heart of contemplative prayer. Why does this attention need to be coupled with a desire for good? The reason is love. I will say more about love at another time, but here is the short answer: Love is, at its root, a desire for good. Love desires the good of the beloved and seeks the good of the beloved whenever possible; this is true whether we mean love of self, love of others, or love of God. Without this desire for good, love is impossible. The moment we turn our attention to God with our simple desire for good, we are engaged in contemplation. As St. John of the Cross described it, we engage in contemplation by giving God our “simple loving attentiveness” (St. John of the Cross p.700).
The difference between mutual attention and a mutual gaze of love is our simple, yet God-given, desire for good. And, it doesn’t matter if our attention is turned for two seconds or two hours; it’s a form of contemplation because God is always present now. In some sense, contemplation is a way of life and not just a method of prayer. Nonetheless, a practice of contemplative prayer helps form that way of being in the world.
If you pray, contemplative prayer is for you.
In a general sense, then, contemplation is something we all do to varying degrees and in various ways. A songbird or sunset can turn our heart to God so that there is mutuality in attention and desire. It’s not that we desire the sunset or songbird, but we desire to abide in the goodness of the moment that God has given us. Likewise, a friend’s smile or our favorite hymn can bring us into the moment of the divine presence with a full heart. There are any number of moments where the goodness and grace are palpable, and our hearts are easily united with God. However, prayer is usually the moment when we are focused and intentional about seeking some mutuality with the divine presence. As we speak our words of praise, thanksgiving, and petition, the attention is mutual. And, in that mutual attention, our heart’s desire for good is meeting the divine intention for good.
Whenever we pray, some degree of contemplation is taking place so long as we are being attentive. That being said, if my prayer consists primarily of me speaking at God, never really stopping to listen, then whatever mutuality is taking place is truncated by my words and thoughts that take up space between God and I. Why don’t we stop to listen?
“Our Lord says, ‘Stand in the gate of God’s house and preach the word, declare the word!’ The heavenly Father speaks one Word and speaks it eternally…The Word lies hidden in the soul, unnoticed and unheard unless room is made for it in the ground of hearing, otherwise it is not heard; but all voices and all sounds must cease and perfect stillness must reign there, a still silence.” (Meister Eckhart p.207)
So, for now, here is a friendly suggestion. If you pray, take a few minutes (five or ten) and sit in the silence. Don’t worry about feeling or thinking anything; God is always with you. There is no need to think about God; God is already present. Since you naturally want good things, a simple desire for good is always with you. You don’t have to do a thing as you sit in prayer, except desire good in the presence of God who is with you and desires the same.
That seems easy enough, but I will offer a fair warning: You will immediately realize that your mind has other plans. You will think about everything under the sun as you struggle to stay focused, and that’s okay. Spiritual growth using this practice takes time and effort. Nonetheless, try dedicating some time during your daily prayer, giving your attention to the One who loves you. Let the divine love that sustains you speak to the eternal Word in the silence of your heart. Any healthy relationship formed through mutual love depends on communication that is also mutual. And, it is no different with God. In fact, God started the whole conversation.
The eternal Word through whom creation came into being, which is the same eternal Word who became flesh and lived among us, is the same eternal Word who speaks to our hearts in the stillness and silence. May God bless our prayers, and the depths our hearts, with this eternal Word.
The Collected Works of St. john of the Cross, Trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez, ICS Publications, 1991.
The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, Trans. and Ed. by Maurice O’CWalshe, Revised by Bernard McGinn, The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2009.