The Beauty Of Contemplative Prayer
“Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” — St. Teresa, CCC 2709
Today, I would like to share my understanding of contemplative prayer and some of my experiences from engaging in contemplative prayer.
What Is Contemplative Prayer?
According to St. Ignatius, contemplation is simply “praying with our imagination.” He calls it “entering the scenes of the gospels to see, smell, feel, hear and touch” the stories of scripture we read.
Jim Manney puts it this way:
In contemplation, you take a passage from scripture, usually one of the gospels, and immerse yourself in it imaginatively using all the senses. You feel the heat of the day, smell the livestock and clouds of dust on the road, listen to Jesus’ words, watch his actions. It’s a way to engage the gospel personally, with all of our faculties.
Let’s Walk Through Psalm 121
One of my profound experiences with contemplative prayer was with praying Psalm 121 some years ago and it has since stuck with me. That’s the beauty of contemplative prayer. The outcome or what Ignatian spirituality calls “the fruits of prayer” becomes yours and yours alone.
Let’s walk through Psalm 121: 1–3
Let’s start with the Psalmist “looking at the mountains.”
I spent quite some time imagining the mountains. Takes me back to hiking, you get to see some part of the mountains and possibly a little of the peak before you start, but as you begin to hike, you no longer see the peak, just what is in front of you.
Now you see the mountain, and the next question is, “Crap! how do I plan on getting to the top?” This is what the Psalmist refers to as, “Where does my help come from?”
Then comes, “He will not let your foot slip.” Wait a minute! This means you have to climb the mountain. Still in contemplative mode, my imagination took me to the gospels where Jesus said, “If you have faith as little as a mustard seed, you will move mountains” but here I am, all I see is the assurance that my foot will not slip!
I paused at this point, I think I moved from contemplation to meditation. I began asking myself about my mountains and asking Jesus what to do with each mountain. Now I had the confidence to look at the mountains and evaluating each mountain, I asked myself, “Does this require faith or climbing?”
After Contemplation What Next?
St. Ignatius says, “Prayer leads to action.” You cannot pray and not act. It’s impossible! You have to act.
So I spent time now on the fruits of my prayer; “Climbing the mountains.” I think around that time, I was troubled before prayer, but after praying I knew exactly what to do.
Let’s say “job search/ unemployment” was my mountain at that time. Through prayer, I realized that the Lord assured me of not letting my foot slip. In other words, the Lord says, “Oya, climb that mountain.” From my experience with mountains, climbing means you have to put in the work! From strategic training to help you with things like high altitude breathing, stamina, etc, so that you can endure on the day of climbing and get to the peak of the mountain.
Now, you are at the foot of the mountain (unemployment), and God says, this mountain does not move by speaking but by climbing and with assurance that you will not slip.
The point on prayer leading to action will now make you think about the steps you can take to the get to the peak of the mountain (employment). This means defining the kind of employment you want, the skills you need, preparing your resume, applying for jobs, preparing for interviews etc, and God’s promise of not letting you slip means “I will favor you through the interviews, I will make sure good opportunities come your way, etc.”
So after the whole mountain evaluation, I felt this strong presence and assurance from God about not letting my foot slip and until now, I still hold on to that feeling whenever I feel overwhelmed by my mountains.
Can I Learn Contemplation?
Margaret Silf says “Contemplation, like all prayer, is a pure gift, and not anything we can achieve.” Guess what, God is the giver of all gifts and He gives freely to anyone who asks of him. So yes, go ahead and ask God for this beautiful gift; to contemplate him through his word and get to know him more deeply. On my part, whenever I desire to enter into contemplation, I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me and He always does!
My Experience On Contemplating Relationships With Friends
Recently, I realized that I had fallen out of some key relationships with some of my most amazing friends. I was worried about this and sent it to the Lord in prayer. I spent time contemplating Jesus in the gospels and how he went about friendships and relationships.
The passage that came to mind was Mark 5:18: “As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
One thing came to me, “Jesus was always on the move!” I asked him how he felt through “imagination” and realized that Jesus exhibited what we call “detachment.”
In Ignatian spirituality, “detachment” means a healthy impartiality, a distancing, an indifference. The opposite of detachment is possessive attachment. Detachment is the place where we have surrendered to God the outcome of our hopes, fears and worries, and we trust God enough that no matter what happens, “God’s grace will be enough for me.”
In this, I understood that we cannot always have our closest friends and loved ones with us but we must trust that God’s grace will be enough for us. It takes a great deal of grace and maturity to exhibit detachment. It’s never ending.
Now, I am at peace with the distance with friends and family. I have surrendered it to God and I still surrender because sometimes I really miss the good old days but we moveeee!
Conclusion
“Imaginative prayer, or in the Ignatian tradition, imaginative contemplation, describes how we can open ourselves to the Gospel and enter into it imaginatively, allowing our whole heart to be present for God to mingle with.” — Stephen Spiewak
In contemplation, you’re only trying to be present in the scene of scripture you are reading.
How do we start?
- First, we get settled in a comfortable chair and in a quiet place where we won’t be distracted. Our first gesture is to be still and ask God to open our hearts and imaginations.
- Then pick a story out of scripture. Read through it once slowly and put it down.
- Now we begin to imagine the scene as if we are standing right there. What is around me? Who else is there? What do I hear in the scene? If I am in a house, what noises are in the house or in the street outside? What are the smells I can pick up? What is the mood — tense? joyful? confused? angry?
Feel free to paint this picture in any way your imagination takes you. Don’t worry about historical accuracy. This isn’t scripture — this is letting God take your imaginations and reveal to you something of the intimate life of Jesus or others.
It is an experience of prayer that lets our imaginations free themselves from anything that limits them. This is God revealing himself to us.
I pray you begin to embrace this form of prayer from time to time. Simply ask God for the gift of this prayer and meet him in contemplation!
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best in contemplation!
