The contemplative Christian classic The Cloud of Unknowing teaches: Lift your heart up to the Lord with a gentle stirring of love, desiring him for his own sake and not for his gifts.
This means we enter centering prayer with no ulterior motives.
We sit because we love God.
That is it!
We create a space for God to move as we say, “Here I am God. Do with me whatever you want.”
I think of centering prayer as a reverse prayer.
God prays in me what I need for my non-centering prayer times.
I have noticed many fruits as a result of my practice.
I have an excitement for life that I did not have before I practiced centering prayer.
Life is an incredible gift and I have learned to treasure and relish it.
I am a more confident person as I carry on my daily tasks.
I receive inner nudges to get out of my comfort zone to try new things.
I am more quickly able to connect to my inner peace and calm outside of centering prayer.
I am a less reactive person which means I am more present and better able to listen to the person in front of me, give them the space they require and appreciate from me.
The letting-go posture during centering prayer comes with me into my non-centering parts of the day.
I am able to let go of things that distract me and hone in on the things that I need to focus on and get done in my everyday life.
This means I let go of the tasks that do not need to get done today!
I will mention one last fruit.
God has changed for me.
Rather, I should say my perception of God has changed.
Prior to centering prayer, I thought of God as a man with a white beard, up in the sky, who looked down at me, judged me, critiqued me, and was not always happy with me and my performance.
Now I think of God as an ever-present presence who unconditionally loves me.
The fruits of centering prayer are unique for each practitioner.
God knows what you need.
Your job is to let go, open to God, and receive them.
I always enjoy hearing about the fruits others have noticed in their life as a result of their practice.
Reach out if you want to share the fruits of your practice. I would love to read them.
Here is an excellent translation of the Cloud of Unknowing by Carmen Acevedo Butcher.
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