SILENT PRAYER

Silent Prayer

Summary of a teaching by Teresa Clements, DMJ (1979)

The Lord wants to be one with each person. Each of us is His delight. It is important to remember this when we come to prayer. St. Teresa of Avila once wrote that when we are at prayer we should not think much but love much. As we come each day to our time of silent prayer – no matter how long or brief that may be – we want to do whatever will help us to love much. Each person has a unique way of responding to the Lord’s call of love but some thoughts may be helpful to all of us.

Speaking and keeping silent. If we look at married people we may notice that at the beginning of their married life they often speak much, but as time goes on they become more silent, they enjoy just being together. We find this same pattern in our relationship with God: listening, speaking, and silent delight in each others’ presence. At times we come to God as if He were a television: flick on the switch and He will speak! But it should not be like that. Each day we should take time solely for Him; to await His good pleasure as He awaits ours. We need to do this both as individuals and as a community. In our lives we must balance being alone and being with others, silence and speaking. For example, when we pray as a community – whether in a prayer group or in liturgical celebrations – although there may be much speaking, there should also be times of silence. Because we live in a noisy world, silence may be difficult for us. What then can we do. Simply spend time doing nothing in a rather negative way? No, in a particular way silence is calling out from my poverty, my nothingness: the call of me, my being. It is being me before the God who is.

The place of our body. As persons we have a body, mind and heart. Our body wants its share in our prayer. May be one finds it better to sit, another to kneel or to lie prostrate. It is important to find the posture that suits us best and this will change at different times. If we like to walk as we pray, it may be helpful to remember that when walking with a close friend, from time to time we stop, stand still and look at each other as we speak.

The use of our mind. Our minds like to be free agents, going off in their own direction. Thus when we begin to pray, to centre on Christ, it can help us to repeat in our minds, or even with our lips at first, the name of Jesus, or to pray in tongues or say the rosary, etc. Anything that will help us to calm our minds and bring us silently before God. Here it is important to respect our own rhythm of prayer, to be very sensitive to when we should be silent and when we should speak. When praying in a group it is equally important to respect both our own rhythm and the rhythm of others. So try to listen, to be in tune with the others, to be in harmony with the whole prayer.

Flexibility in prayer. Any prayer should bring us to a greater integration, a greater wholeness. To arrive at this it is important that we do not hold onto any particular way of praying. Prayer is a gift given to us by God, so we should not be possessive about it. This means that we should not insist on praying always in exactly the same way as we are praying now, whether that be in silence, in tongues or any other form. Each day my prayer is a gift that is given.

To conclude: We must take the time to be totally present in our whole person before the Lord. What begins with me with the Lord, becomes the Lord with me and eventually the Lord with us. He is allowed into the world through me. "Morning by morning he wakens, he wakens my ear, to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear …" (Is. 50:4-5). Wait on the Lord in quietness and trust. Today He has a unique gift for you. He has a new name for you. "You will no longer be called Forsaken but My delight is in you" (Is. 62:4)