What is Contemplative Prayer?
Contemplative prayer is a form of Christian meditation characterized by silent, wordless attention to the presence of God. Unlike petitionary or intercessory prayer, contemplative prayer meaning centers on receptive stillness—opening the heart to divine presence rather than speaking requests or reciting formulas. It represents the Christian mystical tradition’s answer to the question “what is contemplative prayer”: a practice of interior silence intended to dissolve the psychological barriers between the pray-er and the Divine, fostering intimate union with God.
The practice moves beyond mental activity, images, and conceptual thought toward what medieval mystics called “resting in God.” Practitioners understand contemplative prayer not as an achievement of technique but as consent to God’s already-present action within the soul—what Thomas Keating termed “the prayer of consent.” This distinguishes it from meditation practices in other traditions: contemplative prayer for beginners emphasizes relationship with the personal God of Christian revelation, not impersonal awareness.
Origins & Lineage
Contemplative prayer’s roots extend to the Apostolic Fathers and Mothers in the 1st and 2nd centuries, who called their practice “Prayer of the Heart.” The Desert Fathers and Mothers—Christian hermits, ascetics, and monks living in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria during the 3rd and 4th centuries—developed silent, imageless forms of this prayer. The 4th-century monk John Cassian wrote the earliest clear Christian instructions on contemplative prayer, describing practices he learned from the Desert Father Isaac.
The method proposed for lay persons and monastics in the first Christian centuries was lectio divina—“divine reading”—involving listening to scripture. In the 14th century, an anonymous monk wrote The Cloud of Unknowing, conveying the fathomless mystery of God accessible only through loving presence. Other key figures include John Cassian, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross.
During the 16th century, Carmelite saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross wrote and taught about advanced Christian prayer, which was given the name infused contemplation. However, the term “mental prayer” with its distinct categories did not exist prior to the 16th century, and around the 12th century shifts in religious thought began to marginalize contemplative practice.
In the 1970s, responding to Roman Catholicism’s invitation to revive early teachings, three Trappist monks at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts—William Meninger, Basil Pennington, and Thomas Keating—developed centering prayer, a contemporary method of silent prayer. Centering prayer emerged from St. Joseph’s Abbey in 1975 as a contemporary method of contemplative prayer.
How It’s Practiced
Contemplative prayer takes multiple forms within the Christian tradition, but the contemporary centering prayer method provides clear structure for beginners. The four guidelines are: (1) Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within; (2) Sitting comfortably with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word; (3) When engaged with thoughts, body sensations, feelings, images, or reflections, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word; (4) At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.
Centering prayer is described as a receptive method in which one can experience God’s presence within, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. Sessions typically last 20 to 30 minutes, twice daily. The sacred word—examples include “Jesus,” “Abba,” “peace,” or “love”—is not a mantra for repetition but a gentle anchor symbolizing intention.
Lectio divina represents a complementary practice. Unlike centering prayer’s silent receptivity, lectio divina is an active practice using thoughts, images, and insights to converse with God through four movements: Reading (lectio)—listening to scripture with the “ear of your heart”; Reflecting (meditatio)—relishing the words; Responding (oratio)—allowing spontaneous responses to arise; and Resting (contemplatio)—simply being with God’s presence.
Traditional forms include the Jesus Prayer (a short invocative prayer repeated continuously), apophatic prayer (via negativa—approaching God through what cannot be said), and kataphatic prayer (via positiva—using images and concepts). Hesychasm, the Eastern Orthodox contemplative tradition, emphasizes inner stillness (hesychia) through breath-synchronized repetition of the Jesus Prayer.
Contemplative Prayer Today
In 1984, Thomas Keating, Gustave Reininger, and Edward Bednar co-founded Contemplative Outreach, an international and ecumenical spiritual network teaching centering prayer and lectio divina, providing support through resources, workshops, and retreats. The hunger for contemplative prayer among Christians remains deep, with many resources available today even when not widely discussed in parishes.
Practitioners encounter contemplative prayer through:
- Contemplative Outreach chapters offering weekly centering prayer groups in person and via Zoom
- Monastery and retreat center programs at Trappist, Benedictine, Carmelite, and ecumenical centers
- Shalem Institute and similar organizations providing formation programs
- Apps and online timers supporting daily practice
- Parish small groups incorporating lectio divina and contemplative sitting
- Interfaith contemplative communities like the World Community for Christian Meditation
The practice has spread ecumenically across Catholic, mainline Protestant, and Orthodox communities. Some evangelical Christians embrace it; others view it with suspicion due to concerns about syncretism with Eastern meditation or perceived passivity.
Common Misconceptions
Contemplative prayer is not emptying the mind. While Eastern meditation may aim to empty yourself, in a biblical worldview meditation fills yourself with the fullness of Christ—the goals differ even when techniques like breathing or centering overlap. The practice deepens relationship with God, the Indwelling Presence.
It is not a technique for achieving mystical states. Christianity is no oriental exercise in which contemplation results from techniques; it is a love communion with the supreme Beloved, not mere impersonal awareness. Centering prayer does not make you a contemplative; contemplation is God’s gift, not the result of method.
It does not replace other forms of prayer. Contemplative prayer exists alongside—not instead of—petitionary prayer, liturgy, scripture study, and active virtue. Teresa of Avila insisted on the basic necessity of obedience, fraternal charity, humility, and detachment as conditions for serious prayer life, beginning by practicing ordinary virtues with extraordinary fidelity.
It is not incompatible with intellectual engagement. The via negativa (apophatic way) and via positiva (kataphatic way) represent complementary approaches, not mutually exclusive paths. Many contemplatives were also theologians and scholars.
Thoughts during practice are not failures. Teresa of Avila specifically said not to force the mind to be still, experiencing a wild and active imagination even during infused contemplation in the 4th and 5th mansions of the Interior Castle. The practice involves gently returning attention, not achieving thoughtlessness.
How to Begin
For centering prayer specifically:
- Read Thomas Keating’s Open Mind, Open Heart (1986)—the foundational modern text explaining method, theology, and psychological dimensions
- Locate a Contemplative Outreach chapter via contemplativeoutreach.org for weekly group practice and support
- Begin with 20 minutes once or twice daily, using a timer
- Expect nothing; approach with curiosity rather than ambition
- Consider attending an introductory workshop or retreat
For broader contemplative prayer:
- Engage The Cloud of Unknowing (14th century)—the medieval classic still remarkably accessible
- Explore Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila or Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross for theological depth
- Practice lectio divina with a gospel passage as a gateway to silent prayer
- Find a spiritual director familiar with contemplative tradition—guidance matters, especially as practice deepens
- Join a monastery’s oblate program or associates network (Benedictine, Trappist, Carmelite) for ongoing formation
Essential foundation: Establish a regular, consistent time and place—contemplative prayer requires commitment to daily practice, not occasional experimentation. The Christian tradition emphasizes that contemplation grows from a life oriented toward love of God and neighbor, humility, and simplicity. As John of the Cross taught, the path to union with God involves both prayer and transformation of character through grace and willing cooperation.