Dear Rose Park,
I’m guessing, more often than not, when we think of prayer we think of public prayer during communal worship. We think of our prayer of confession or the Lord’s prayer. If we do think of prayer from an individual standpoint, I imagine we think of prayers before meals or before bed. Yesterday, I read an interesting article from Faithward all about centering prayer.
In short, a centering prayer incorporates all three characteristics of contemplative prayer practices: silence, solitude, and stillness. It moves beyond conversation with God to communion. This Faithward article, written by Tia Norman, helps us to realize that by participating in a centering prayer we dismantle the false self and we move closer to Jesus. By leaning in to Matthew 6 and Jesus’ call to “go into your inner room and pray,” Norman writes:
“This verse is inviting us to remember that the sacred space is within us. In the ancient world, to have a closet, to have an inner room, would have meant that you were one of the elite. Because this is a teaching of Jesus, it has to be something that is accessible to all. What a centering prayer helps us to do is to enter into that inward experience for ourselves, being moved and motivated by the Spirit.
The intention of centering prayer is to consent to God’s action and presence within. When we’re moving into our inner room, we could simply close our eyes. In some cultures, it would have been represented by an actual prayer cloth or shawl, which would have covered the individual who was going in to pray. This idea of taking time to close ourselves to the outside world and what’s going on and moving towards the divine, the Holy Spirit, that resides within us, helps us to anchor ourselves and also offer some theological grounding when it comes to contemplative practices.”
This is all to say, I wonder if a centering prayer might be a helpful practice for you. It might not involve a prayer shawl or even lighting a candle, but it could be as simple as closing your eyes and allowing the Good Shepherd to lead you in silence for a moment or two. As you prepare for another busy school year filled with activities, practices, and schedules, perhaps a daily centering prayer might be helpful in removing the false self of perfection and posturing your physical and spiritual body towards your Creator.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
To read the article in its’ entirety, please click here.
Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash