Centering Prayer is a Christian form of silent contemplative prayer that is practiced to deepen our relationship with God by being aware of and receptive to God’s presence and action in our life.
The practice of Centering Prayer is at once very simple and very complex. The simplicity comes in its method. The method of Centering Prayer involves sitting for a set period of time (typically 20 minutes) and breathing deeply and intently with the goal of allowing one’s thoughts to drift away. Often times a scared word will be used to help bring attention and focus back to the breath. This breath, though, or a clearing of the mind, is not the end goal. The end goal is a connection with God, and specifically with the Divine presence within us, often referred to as the Divine Indwelling.
Centering Prayer is ultimately about taking away and removing those things that are blocking us from recognizing and experiencing God’s presence in our lives.
Centering Prayer comes in many different forms and many different flavors. My experience has been through the organization Contemplative Outreach, founded by Father Thomas Keating. This organization has a tremendous amount of resources around Centering Prayer, which can be found here. I also have posted numerous links in the “Community” section of this site.
It is not as important to precisely define Centering Prayer and what it is or isn’t. What is important is to practice it. Centering Prayer is not about what you believe. It is about what you experience. And the goal of Centering Prayer is to surrender to the experience of God’s presence and action in your life and to be transformed in the process, little by little.
Much of my experience in Centering Prayer is influenced by Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, mystic, and writer who gave voice to so much of the mystical journey. Below is one of his quotes that speaks well to the nature of Centering Prayer.