In the Coracle

Centering Prayer

April 30, 2008 // Tags: centering prayer, Faith, Prayer

After a first get-together for spiritual direction, my friend Steve suggested I try doing some centering prayer and passed along this overview from Henri Nouwen. Enjoy.

First, bring yourself to God as you are. Sit comfortably, your Bible open to a selected reading. All you have to bring to your relationship with God is yourself. The object is not to try to feel special or holy, but to feel plainly yourself.

Then, close your eyes and become quietly attentive to yourself… Become aware of your breathing, and begin to relax into its natural rhythm.

As you relax, you will first become aware of noises, smells… soon your quite will be interrupted, first by a trickle, then a rush of thoughts, feelings, shopping lists, things undone, pressing concerns, etc.

Allow these to come. They are not obstacles to this time of quiet, they are its purpose.

Resist concentrating on any particular thought or feeling (this will block others), but allow each one to pass on by. When you do become hooked by one, don’t fight. Become attentive once again to your breathing, and then allow the thoughts and feelings to come again.

You will often find that the rush subsides to a few deeper thoughts, thicker feelings. Listen… Listen… Listen…

After several minutes, when you are ready, open your eyes. You are now ready to seek God in the written word.

(from “Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith” by Henri Nouwen, p. 101. c. 2006 by the Estate of Henri J.M. Nouwen, Michael J Christensen, and Rebecca J. Laird, HarperCollins Publishers)

Another Resource:

There’s a good web site devoted to centering prayer. Here’s the page with the instructions as to how to engage in centering prayer: http://www.centeringprayer.com/methodcp.htm