John Piper identifies that Contemplative Prayer happens “when you read your Bible, you pause and you see in and through the words to the reality with your heart, and you apprehend spiritual reality. And this gives rise to a kind of praying that is spiritual and authentic and personal and warm and strong”. Practicing contemplative prayer focuses your heart and mind on what happened and how you responded to your day. Allowing for connection to the sweet and bittering moments that the day brought will stabilize your mental health as you marry experiences together, yielding holism and connection to your story (as opposed to your experience being divorced from your heart and mind). Many of our problems are perpetuated because we are not connected to present reality. For example, anxiety will often lead us to be worried about a future failure or problem, when in the present moment there is no threat. Pausing to intentionally experience what is going on currently around you and then marrying that to what is happening in you is the premise of contemplative prayer.
Contemplation in a spiritual context is the weighing out and reconsidering the movements of God in your life, where you may not have initially noticed him. An example of this is when you experience a good conversation with a co-worker that brings you closer to God, or when you experience grief because of yours or someone else’s loss and you are comforted (cf. Matthew 5:4). Or when you nearly miss a car accident and relief floods your mind as you are safe once again. The list of ways that God intervenes in our life is endless because he is always pursuing us (cf. Psalm 139:1–6; 1 John 4:19). But due to the messages that we receive on our phones, in our work or in our relationships, we can miss the movements of God altogether. The temptation and ability to be mindless throughout our day is exactly why Contemplative prayer is needed both for spiritual development but identifying our own mental health needs.
We do not have to create reasons or explanations for what God is doing in our life, but we must tune into what is actually happening around and in us. Believe it or not, but your emotions are communication mediums that the Lord can use to communicate with you. Simply minimizing your emotions, or ignoring your experience is like ignoring that your sense of touch that tells you that the stove is hot or when your sense of smell helps prevent you from drinking milk that is too old to consume. Similarly, your feelings of sadness or depression or anxiety can alert you that something inside you (like a thought pattern or belief) or outside you (like a difficult relationship, real or perceived threat) is not safe. By connecting internal and external realities together, you are allowing your senses and needs to be honored and used. When you keep your emotions unprocessed and unrecognized, you are minimizing their importance and your own experience.
There is no official format for contemplative prayer; Contemplative prayer is an exercise that synthesizes response to God in our lives through what Scripture and our bodies tell us thereby grounding ourselves in the present. To practice contemplative prayer and stabilize your mental health, identify what senses and feelings your experienced today: Were you scared today, or did you finally experience some form of relief? Can you identify when you felt most alive? How about when you felt most drained? Why did you feel drained? What word comes to mind when you think about today? What significance does this word bring to your day/week/month/season? When did you feel most close to God? What were you doing? When did you feel farthest from God? What was going on? What needs do you have right now?
“We do not have to create reasons or explanations for what God is doing in our life, but we must tune into what is actually happening around and in us”
Maybe we were created to notice the nuanced movements of God in our lives. Maybe noticing the ways that God is active in your life will lead you to consider how you can partner with him. By honoring your experiences and emotions, you are being receptive to your own needs and limitations. By creating a sense of connection and meaning to your day, your struggles and experiences are not in vain. When you know what can be learned from your emotions, they shift from being overwhelming to useful tools of communication. The temptation is to numb or not create meaning, which is the opposite of contemplative prayer practices. The point is to tune into what your lived experience is today.
Next steps:
Practice contemplative prayer 1x this week by prayerfully considering a few of the following questions: Were you scared today, or did you finally experience some form of relief? Can you identify when you felt most alive? How about when you felt most drained? Why did you feel drained? What word comes to mind when you think about today? What significance does this word bring to your day/week/month/season? When did you feel most close to God? What were you doing? When did you feel farthest from God? What was going on? What needs do you have right now?
Identify a prominent emotion that you are currently experiencing day to day.
Consider any similarities that are present between yesterday and today / last week and this week / this year and last year.
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