PRAYING IN SILENCE
There is a form of prayer that I learned from Fr Thomas Keating, a Monk who came to visit South Africa from America, a number of years ago. It is called Centering Prayer and is basically a silent prayer. We were taught to choose a phrase, or a word, to still the internal dialogues in our minds. Whenever we found our thoughts wandering into various issues we could use this word, or phrase to bring us back to internal stillness. The one I chose was “be still and know that I am God”
This type of prayer is called “Centering Prayer”. We aim to focus on being open to God and not distracted by anything. We were also taught not to exceed this prayer beyond twenty minutes. I found it hard enough to be disciplined for those twenty minutes!
These are the instructions we were given: -Find a place where you will be undisturbed for approximately 20-30min.
Find a comfortable, upright posture.
Set your alarm to ring after 20 minutes, or less when you begin this form of prayer. Do not exercise this prayer for longer than 20 minutes. You could start with 10 minutes and build up to 20 minutes.
Deal with noises and distractions e.g. barking dog, by imaging that you are sitting on the bottom of the ocean or on a high mountain…. Let the noise, etc, float over you like a ship is the ocean, or a plane in the air.
Spend a few moments capturing and letting go of thoughts. Thoughts are an integral part of who we are, but say, “Not now” when doing Centering Prayer. Also deal with emotions in the same way.
What happens in this stillness is beyond thought, plans, petitions etc. It is a ‘soul journey’ beyond thought.
Choose a phrase that you can repeat to bring yourself back to stillness e.g. “Be still and know that I am God” or “Peace in the presence of God”.
Realize that it is not easy, especially in the beginning. We need to teach ourselves the skill of being still.
At the end of 20 min., in closing, you can say the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), or any phrase that will be an ‘Amen’ to this time of quiet prayer.
Occasionally, try this form of prayer, as another way of praying e.g. once a week.
