Our faith teaches that we should be a people of deep devotion and constant prayer. For most of us this is a goal to be attained…not a present reality. A lot of powerful people in business, politicians and even A-list celebrities talk about their daily meditation routine. However, it is a common assumption that meditation and its fruits are largely unobtainable for the majority of us.

We all learned our basic Christian prayers when we were young. Many of us still fall back upon these rote formulas when we feel the need or inclination to pray, but anything deeper is usually foreign territory. The basic verbal prayers we learned as children should continue to be a part of our spiritual life, but we have to grow deeper in our relationship with the Lord as we move through life.

I struggled for a long time to develop an interior life that was more than just sitting still in silence or praying standard prayers. Even when I achieved periods of deep silence I was frequently caught up in my own mind and my own thoughts. When I would encounter something unexpected in prayer I was always left wondering if I had simply willed it myself or conjured it up from my imagination.

During a silent retreat, about 8-and-a-half-years ago, I was introduced to a very simple form of meditation. It immediately yielded results, and continues to provide insights and powerful encounters with our Lord. The model is called “The Prayer of Recollection” as developed by St. Teresa of Avila, but I was encouraged to adapt it for myself. I have even had the privilege of guiding a few devout and disciplined souls through their own experiences with this method of meditation. What follows is my simple adaptation that I have offered to many people…

1. Location and Time

A. Find a quiet place in your home that is as free from as many distractions as possible–some people even use a closet or an unused room.

B. Move a comfortable arm chair into that location (no lazy-boys or rocking chairs).

C. Morning is the best time for this practice–before the day and its demands besiege us–but any 30 minute block of uninterrupted time is good.

2. The Physical

A. Sit comfortably in the chair with your feet flat on the floor and your hands either on your lap or on the armrests and close your eyes.

B. Begin to take measured and even breaths in and out. I find it helpful to mentally pray the Jesus Prayer as a kind of mantra to help pace my breathing and begin to focus on Christ. This is a short 12-word prayer that I break up evenly between the inhale and the exhale

1 Inhale while mentally (silently) saying, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God“

2 Exhale while mentally saying, “have mercy on me, a sinner.”

C. The body will usually begin to demand attention in the form of wanting to shift positions in the seat, or move the hands. This is a temporary distraction and it will go away in a few minutes as you focus on breathing and stillness. I always go numb and generally forget that I even have a body after about 5 minutes.

3. The Mental

A. After the body has given up its demands for attention, the mind begins to take center stage and this is when distractions, anxieties, and even temptations begin to pour in.

B. At this point it is helpful to call to mind a favorite image of Jesus and focus on that very intensely. Some people love a particular icon or painting and hold that image in the center of their mind. I like to imagine the feet of Jesus standing on green grass next to a gentle stream.

C. The trick is not to try and fight off the distractions, but to recognize them and give to the Lord.

1 I simply identify what the distraction is and tell the Lord that I want to focus on him during this time of prayer.

2 I then place each distraction at our Lord’s feet and continue to do so individually until they run out.

3 In this way we don’t leave prayer to fight off distractions, but actually bring them into the prayer and make them an offering to Jesus.

D. The mind will eventually calm down and become still. This can sometimes take 10-15 minutes, but is well worth the effort and discipline.

4. The Spiritual

A. Once I am still in my body and mind, I sometimes ask the Lord to take me into my heart, or reveal my heart to me.

1 There is an interior landscape in everyone’s heart that is unique and requires God’s guidance to discover

a. St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castles is an example of this

B. Sometimes it is good to simply sit in the silence and peace of quiet meditation

1 This is the most usual experience. It is a gift from God that we need more often than not

C. On rare occasions the voice of God can be heard in interior-locutions

D. Sometimes the Lord will reveal an image or a vision

E. Whatever is received in this time should be given back to the Lord as a spiritual offering in gratitude for the gift–He will give more when He wills it.

5. The Return

A. I have never set an alarm or any kind of notification. I simply ask my guardian angel to prompt me when 30 minutes has passed, and it has never failed.

1 Some may want to have some small, but unobtrusive alarm gently go off after 30 minutes.

a. I would definitely not recommend the use of a smart phone for this–they are anxiety machines. Leave it in another room.

B. Open your eyes and continue to breathe calmly as your physical senses return to you.

1 It frequently takes me a moment to be fully aware of my body again after having tuned it out.

C. Take the gift of peace and stillness with you for the rest of your day–you will most definitely need it!

We all regret the wasted time of each day. We know we should pray more often and more fervently, but either don’t know how to, or frankly don’t want to. This method yields quick results that will make you want to go back to prayer and see what the Lord will do next time.

Anyone who consistently practices this discipline will experience powerful results in a very short amount of time. This is the easiest way I have found to deepen an interior life and find the power of God within.

–Peace and blessings