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This week's guest blogger is Anne A. Simpkinson, Guideposts' online managing editor. Anne, who’s been practicing Centering Prayer since 1996, shares about this prayer practice and how silence can bring us closer to God.
Last year was pretty stressful for me. I kept waiting for the dust to settle, but just when it did, something else came down the pike. Counter-intuitively, I spent less time in prayer. When Lent rolled around this year, I seized the opportunity to commit to praying more.
Specifically, I wanted to spend more time with my practice, centering prayer, a method sometimes called “the prayer of intention.” The prayer is an acknowledgment that God is always with us, but we’re not always with God. Through centering prayer, we intend to remove the barriers we might have between God and ourselves and to “rest in Him.”
The way to remove those barriers is simple but not always easy. I enter into silence as described in Mathew 6:6: “But you, when you pray, enter your inner room and with your door closed pray to your Father who is there in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” When a thought, emotion or memory comes knocking on the door or barging in, I silently repeat my sacred word, a one- or two-syllable word such as peace, Abba, Jesu or Amen. It’s a way of saying, “Right now, I want to be with God. Come back later.”
I also like to think of the practice as an elevator. You get in on the first floor and with you are your spouse and kids, your parents, your friends, teachers, neighbors, your boss. Also in that space are your worries, your fears and anger, your to-do and grocery lists, your work projects. As you can imagine, it can get pretty noisy in there.
But as you stand there in silence, the elevator starts moving. If you find yourself engaged in conversation with one of your worries, you simply repeat your sacred word silently, to yourself. Amazingly, at each floor, someone or something simply wanders off. In time, even if the thoughts and emotions are sharing the elevator car with you, they stand back quietly against the wall. At some point, you realize that God has also been with you in the elevator from the very start. It’s just that with the crowd and the noise, you hadn’t noticed before. Now you can simply be with God.
One’s prayer session and practice aren’t always smooth. At some floors, two people (or emotions) may leave and five more might come aboard. But the practice is called a practice because one just has to keep at it.
The sixteenth-century mystic St. John of the Cross described silence as “God’s first language.” Of course, God’s “language” is His presence. When we immerse ourselves in silence is when we can truly be with God, as God is—not how we want Him to be, not how we think He should be. God just is and we are just with God.
I’ve found that the more I cultivate silence, the more I’m able to tune out life’s everyday noise—drop my annoyances, my reactivity, my self-doubt—and carry with me a sense of God’s presence in my life. And isn’t that what Lent is all about?
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Rick Hamlin is the executive editor of Guideposts magazine and the author of 10 Prayers You Can't Live Without. To learn more about the book and explore your own prayer journey, watch this video.
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Thank you so much for this post, it helped me regain confidence that even in adversity, i should not forget one thing that is constant- God and his peace. If I practice, adversities will no longer matter to me, and my inner state will stabilize to peacefulness. Thank you for reminding the presence of God is eternal; all the rest is ephemeral.
I have been the family caretaker since 16 yrs. old. At 26 had ovarian cancer. Then a tumor in my liver, and a surgery that went terribly wrong injury the remaing liver. 78 hospitalizations later, and the loss of my family, I am days away from a Retailiatory Eviction--widespread mold & water leakage caused me to report landlord to various agencies. Each "past the buck." I pray & meditate twice a day. I look back and see how adversity was a blessing, for it brought me closer to the Lord. I am scared to become homeless--I was a lawyer &lived in a beautiful home. I surrender myself & this problem to G-D. I was advised to "go within"& not allow anything outside of me to intrude & steal my peace. Today, I realized in my fervent prayers for Divine guidance,an intuitive thought, I have not spoke more than listened. It is in stillness & silence that G-D speaks. Too often my restlessness & worldly problems intrude to the point of causing me to cut short the meditation. Frantically I have written emails, called agencies to prevent this unlawful eviction. Tonight, minutes before I read your post, I allowed negative thoughts to enter my mind. I questioned if all my efforts to survive were worth it--to just be unlawfully made homeless. I stopped the thoughts, & just found myself repeating G-D, G-D, G-D!! Then seconds later read your post. I think it was G-D's reminder to stop fearing, stop even prolonged praying. G-D al ready knows my needs. It is in the stillness that I feel closer to G-D, affirming my love & gratitude. I must remember that I need not search for G-D b/c He is here, within me. I have experienced the "out of body" experience when I had a fever of 106.2 & became unresponsive. Telepathically, my Mom ( deceased) came to me, reassured me she was happy, w/my Dad, no longer paralyzed. The serenity--bliss was like nothing I had experienced. The temperature perfect. It was like a yellow sunshine like surrounding. Tranquility I have never known. But, my Mom said,"( I) couldn't stay, I had to go back, it wasn't my time. Go, go back." I then regained consciousness. Since that time I have tried to find that serenity within." I thank you for your post. The timing not a coincidence--I believe it was meant for me to read at that moment. You re
reminded me how integral stillness is. A spiritual teacher used this analogy, think of a bottle of water w/ sand in it. When shaken, it gets muddy. But, once placed down, upright, the sand settles to the bottom, & water becomes clear. So it is with our mind. It is only in the stillness that I obtain clarity & peace. I learned this years ago while camping lakeside. It was only when people stopped the water sports at night , allowing the water to be still, could I see the reflection of the moon. So I agree (& liked) your "elevator" analogy. I believe G-D works through people. Tonight, admits my crying & fears, I decided to check my FB page & found, and, read your article. Thanks for reminding me of the importance of stillness & silence. Thank you. May I ask you to say a prayer for me? I'd really appreciate it . In Divine Friendship, SHARYN