About soul care/contemplative prayer

Contemplative prayer is all about experiencing and deeping your relationship with God. It is meditative and reflective and goes well with other practices such as yoga and mindfulness.

Unlike bible studies or sermons, you don’t analyse the texts or try to understand what they are saying, and it’s not about learning or memorising scripture. It’s also not like regular prayers where you bring your requests before God. In fact, advocates of contemplative prayer see words and thoughts as sometimes getting in the way of our direct experience of God because our minds are busy and distracted. Instead, it’s an invitation to be in the present moment, letting God speak to you exactly where you are and using the prayers as tools to lead you into deeper relationship with God.

In the book ‘Prayer of Heart and Body’, author Fr Thomas Ryan talks about atunement with God and uses the example of tuning into a particular radio station. The idea is that God is always there, we just need to tune into him. This is not always easy to do and that’s why these spiritual practices can help us. I call them ‘soul care tools’ because they are useful tools to help us care for our souls.

Types of contemplative prayer

Lectio divina translates as ‘divine reading’ and involves reading or listening to a short passage of scripture three or four times and letting God speak to you through the words. There are short periods of silence in between readings for you to listen and speak to God. The readings don’t have to be from the bible – God can speak to you through all kinds of texts, including poetry, song lyrics and stories.

Prayer of examen is often done at the end of the day or week and involves inviting the holy spirit to help you as you look back through the day/week and bring things before God. For example, you might think of all the things you’re thankful for in the day and give thanks for them. the last part of the examen prayer involves looking forward to the next day or week and asking God to help you.

Centering prayer is a silent prayer that uses a word or phrase as an anchor to help you centre your focus on God and draw your focus back to him if your mind wanders. There’s no shame in getting distracted while doing this, it’s completely normal and the idea is to just use the word or phrase to come back to the present moment.

Breath prayer is where you repeat a word or phrase on your inhale and/or exhale like a mantra. Probably the most common breath prayer is the Jesus prayer, but it doesn’t have to be long: repeating a single word – like ‘Jesus’, ‘holy’ or ‘come’ – can be just as effective.

Imaginative contemplation involves placing yourself in a bible story and imagining what it would be like. It can be a good way of bringing the story to life and connecting with Jesus. You can use your senses to imagine what it would have looked, smelled, tasted, felt and sounded like but we don’t aim for historical accuracy in imaginative contemplation – it’s simply a creative tool to help you connect with God.

Visio divina translates as ‘divine seeing’, and uses imagery and art to connect with God. You can use the picture as a starting point for a conversation with God and let him speak to you through the different elements of the picture. You can then talk to him about anything that comes up. You don’t have to use religious art, it could be secular art, sculptures, photos, video, even looking around in nature.

Colloquay is simply a conversation with God, talking to him as you would a friend. You might want to get things off your chest or use a theme, topic or question as a conversation starter. The idea is to come before God just as you are and be honest and real with him. You may want to spend some quiet time with him afterwards, listening for a reply.

Welcoming prayer is all about accepting every aspect of the present moment and inviting God into it. There’s time to be still and simply rest in his presence. Welcoming prayer also invites you to let go of the things that you are holding that might come in between you and God.

Useful resources

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