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Centering Prayer
Here are some words from the unknown author of the book titled, 'The Cloud of the Unknowing' . . . which is considered the first exploration in the English language of the soul's quest for God:
"When the evil one discovers you at this work, he will be utterly confused, and blinded by an agonizing ignorance of what you are doing, he will be driven by mad curiosity to find out. But never mind, for you shall graciously take rest in the loving union of your spirit with God's. Your sleep shall be untroubled, for it shall bring deep spiritual strength and nourishment to renew both your body and your Spirit. Solomon confirms this shortly after when he says, it is complete healing of the flesh. He simply means that it will bring health to all the frailty and sickness of the flesh. When with the grace of Jesus, the spirit rises again to this work, the flesh will be completely healed"
"Unless like Jesus we go off, at least symbolically speaking, to a deserted place to pray, everything else in our Christian life is going to fall apart or devolve in to something it shouldn't be." - Bishop Robert Barron
Christian Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.
Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him. The source of Centering Prayer, as in all methods leading to contemplative prayer, is the Indwelling Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The focus of Centering Prayer is the deepening of our relationship with the living Christ. If a person is faithful to the practice, they will experience the following healing benefits: a calmer mind, a sense of feeling closer to God, a calming of the nervous system, more energy, undisturned sleet, and complete healing of the flesh. Also, at some point, as the conscious mind quiets, wounds, hurts, and un-healed memories from the past will move from the sub-conscious mind to the conscious mind. This is actually a good thing. God is ready and waiting for us to acknowledge and accept them, and for us to hand them right over to God, like giving a gift.
CLICK HERE for the guidelines on centering prayer.
Rev. Thomas Keating's book on Centering/Contemplative Prayer: Open Mind, Open Heart