prayer 101: contemplative prayer

"Contemplative  Prayer" - a so-called method or structure of personal prayer is being bandied about and to a major degree is getting a bad rap. 

Possibly rightly so.

Notice that I said "possibly". The bad rap is essentially coming from evangelical Christians (my brothers and sisters in Christ) who are, in my personal opinion, throwing the baby out with the bath water. Allow me to completely explain my views and positions. I do not believe this is a  completely black-and-white or cut-and-dry argument.

Are there "bad" points to this methodology? Yes. Are there "good" points to this methodology? Yes. I do not want to appear as if I'm straddling a barbed wire fence. I may, in your opinion, be a little too broad-minded (although my wife and kids would disagree on that point).  But over my life, God has allowed me to travel to South America, Europe, and Asia. Our family has decades-old friends from as far away as Australia and New Zealand. On top of that, He's also provided me the opportunity to be a small business owner who had to deal with customers from almost every walk of life and income level. I have learned to appreciate differences in culture, income, lifestyle, and gender. All of these are gifts. And I cherish what God has provided. 

Today we live in a society of "nuances". We live in a time of "cultural clutter". Very few things are black and white, cut and dry. Everyone is looking for an "angle". Our "yes" is no longer "yes"; it's "well, what I  really meant was..." Our "no" is no longer "no"; it's "I was just kidding" or "you take it too literally" or "you take things too seriously". Well, why not? But that's exactly how our culture speaks. As the Bible foretold, our yes becomes no, right becomes wrong, and good becomes evil. Isaiah 5:20. There has been and will continue to be a  complete reversal in our understanding of standards and absolutes. And frankly, the post-modern mind doesn't believe in absolutes anyway (see my discussion on Acts and Apologetics: Unbelievers Worldview). 

We Christians can no longer say, "God's Word is Truth" and leave it go at that. Instead, we have to use more words that further go on to fill in all potential voids or gaps of understanding: inerrant, infallible, Holy Spirit inspired, and so on. Why do we need to color in all these spaces? Why can't we leave white space? Heck, we argue over the definition of "is".

But before everyone jumps out of our respective chairs and begins swinging, we need to define a couple of basic terms so that hopefully, we're on the same page.

One last thing: I will use the terms contemplative prayer and centering prayer as being equivalent. There are a couple of subtleties, but for this broader discussion, I will use both terms.

First of all, the word Prayer. In a broad sense, we can pretty well agree that prayer is talking to God. That may be well and good, but I believe as we mature in our relationship to God, and that relationship deepens, prayer begins to take on a deeper meaning. As our lives become more complex, we yearn for a more fulfilling relationship with our Heavenly Father. Similar to human relationships, initially there is a lot of speaking. As the relationship deepens, fewer words are spoken; we understand the other person's smile or raised eyebrows. In time, we enjoy just sitting in the same room or car. It's not that spoken words are unnecessary, but we just enjoy "being" with that loved one.

As we mature in prayer (which is a life-long process), we see that there is a process. What I've come to understand is that the process of prayer matures in this manner: talking at God, talking to God, listening to God and finally being with God. It is a common sense observation. 

Let's face it, as 21st century Americans, we (I) don't know how to have a full and deep conversation; except with very few people (usually a loved one and possibly one or two close friends). Our lives are so busy, so intense, so noisy, that we can't be quiet enough to spend 10 minutes,  let alone one hour communing with God - or sometimes with one another.  We are willing to spend hour upon hour on Facebook or watching TV or playing video games, but we are not willing to purposefully put aside one to two hours a day - yes each day - being alone with God. Putting that amount of time aside is a struggle. It takes effort. And writing  Bible studies or preparing to teach or preach is no substitute for personal quiet time with God.

For a more "full definition" of what I believe prayer to be, please read my introductory notes from a study I've written on Prayer. Here are the links to Prayer 101 Introduction and What is Prayer as well as the Depths or Prayer.

So, can we agree that Prayer means to speak with, listen to, and be with (commune) God? Good, one definition down.

Next, we need to define the word "contemplative". To contemplate something (or also the word contemplation) means to think something through. The various dictionaries define contemplate as to "look at attentively and thoughtfully" or to have "thoughtful observation or study" or "to regard with deliberate care". To mull something over. In a way, we're "chewing the cud" of life or situations or God. Notice the deliberateness of those definitions. 

Contemplative prayer, I believe, evokes thoughts of sitting for long hours in silence and solitude, waiting upon God. To our modern lives, that's almost anathema. It goes against our natural, sinful grain. We have too many things to do and accomplish. Too many places to go. Too many people to commune with or be with. Why can't we take some of the time and effort it takes to do those things and just be with God? I ask myself that question. Why, at the end of the day, can't I just take my Bible and a pen and a piece of paper and go to my room for an hour or two? Why do I  have to continue to do things? Why do I have to be entertained by the world, when God is sitting and waiting for me, just wanting to reveal more of Himself to my mind and my life? Which of these efforts is better time spent?

I  find myself (you probably find yourself), pouring myself (yourself) into a variety of efforts, yet I'm too lazy to make time for my Creator. That may sound harsh, but only because I know it's true in my own life.  Let me be clear: I am lazy when it comes to making God a priority in my life. Before sitting down to Sunday school, we chat about what? Sports scores, our jobs, the weather, new clothes, play dates, etc. It's not that those things are necessarily bad, but why aren't we sharing with our brothers and sisters in the Lord, what "new" aspect that He has exposed to us in His Word as we read this past week? Or why aren't we comparing notes of what our homework was for the Sunday school class? 

If we expect to be continually spoon-fed by our pastors and Sunday school teachers, we will not mature. We will not reach the depths of the walk to which God has called us. To a certain degree, we may miss out on some of what He had planned for us. Don't forget, that God wants us to enjoy Him in the abundance of life. Ephesians 3:20.

Before we get into the real meat of the contemplative or centering prayer controversy, there are or maybe two other related issues that need to be clarified or defined. Both of these issues are dealt with in Scripture. They may not be directly spoken of, but the Bible paints the word pictures in both Old and New Testaments.

The two issues are Silence and Solitude. You can read about them here

Now to the meat of Contemplative Prayer. In my opinion, the IDEA or STRUCTURE of Contemplative (centering) Prayer is an overall good idea. The problem comes in the methodology. In other words, how we go about being in or practicing contemplative or centering prayer is the real issue.

More specifically, it's a question of whose rules are you going to follow in contemplative prayer? Frankly, if contemplative prayer had a name like "the Jesus way to pray", we probably wouldn't be arguing; at least for those of us in the evangelical Christian camp. Where we appear to get confused or caught up is in the historical references used by Catholic mystics of the Middle Ages or even later-day monks. We think that just because this idea of  "meditation" is more of a common "Eastern" practice, it is something to be avoided. In reality, these are what I would call structures or methods for having a "good quiet time".

In the context of "good quiet time" evangelicals are comfortable. The problem is that we, by and large, don't know how to have a good quiet time. I know I don't. We don't know to do silence and solitude. We, by and large, have never been shown HOW to have a good quiet time and then actually practiced it for some time so that it becomes a habit. (Silence and Solitude).

Click here for the steps to Contemplative Prayer.