Sermon for November 5, Sit Still: Centering Prayer
Andrew T. Barton

Many of us keep hectic schedules.

Appointments. Assignments. Activities. Duties. Deadlines. Demands

We are a harried and hurried culture.

We carry pagers, cell phones, and palm gadgets.

We have "to do" lists to complete, voice mail and e-mail messages to answer.

We have kids to look after and aging parents to care for.

We have bosses demanding more hours,

teachers giving more homework,

coaches demanding longer practices,

and organizations scheduling more meetings.

Now the preacher wants us to take more time to pray.

And well we should pray, for what breathing is to the body, prayer is to the soul. Prayer, "real prayer," says Richard Foster, "Is life creating and life changing." "Prayer—secret, fervent, believing prayer—lies at the root off all personal godliness," wrote missionary William Carey. "Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us," writes another.

No wonder the disciples implored Jesus to teach them how to pray. Praying is not an optional activity for those with spare time. Prayer is spiritual breathing. Without it our spirits suffocate and die.

So we want to pray, we need to pray, we must pray. And because our minds are so cluttered with details and deadlines; because our spirits are overloaded with worries, hopes, and expectations; the first thing we need to do is STOP.

When the psalmist says to "be still" he means we must stop what we are doing and stop what we are thinking about. We are to cease striving. Prayer is about loving God and being loved by God. Just as marriages and friendships require times of togetherness to strengthen the relationship and to build intimacy, so we need time alone with God.

When we are noisy or hurried we are incapable of intimacy.

When we are distracted we cannot give another our full attention.

Therefore the first posture of prayer is to simply SIT STILL.

So too when we pray, the first thing we need to do is to sit down, to give our full attention to God.

So, set a time, a specific time to pray. And then sit still long enough to pay attention to God. That sounds so simplistic it seems silly. Yet, the stillness of which I speak is profound. It is called "centering." "We focus our mind’s attention and our heart’s desire on the Lord present at the Center of our being." M. Basil Pennington in his classic book, Centering Living: The Way of Centering Prayer, reminds us that prayer is a communication of love—love between God and you. He says,

One would think this very natural form of attentive prayer would be easy to do. But for us in our noisy, busy world it is a challenge. To make it work we can use a simple guide to Centering Prayer—an ancient form of prayer that has been used for centuries. Some trace its roots to the 14^th C. We prepare for this prayer by sitting relaxed and quiet—

Then we begin by centering our mind and heart on God. We become still before the Lord.

Three rules or guides are offered to aid in centering prayer.

First, "Be in faith and love to God who dwells in the center of our being."

Focus your attention on God. A few verses of Scripture may help you to focus.

Center your heart and mind on the Holy One—

acknowledge God’s Presence, remember God’s love for you.

The key is not so much to do something, but simply to BE,

Be in faith present to God.

Be in love to God who dwells in the center of your being.

Then Rule 2, "Take up a love word and let it be gently present, supporting your being to God in faith-filled love."

We allow a word, a single simple word, to come to mind that expresses our response to God’s presence. Pennington calls it a "love word," meaning a word that spontaneously expresses our love. Typically it is a name of God—Beloved. Lord. Father/Mother. Jesus. Shepherd. (This word is not to become a mantra that you repeat over and over to alter your state of consciousness.) It is simply a word or name to help us abide in God’s presence.

As the third rule or guide explains, "Whenever you become aware of anything, simply, gently return to the Lord with the use of your prayer word."

The purpose of Centering Prayer is to simply be in God’s Presence—Instead of being filled with all of our own thoughts, worries, agendas, ideas, and hopes; we invite God in by our attention to him; we open an inner space within ourselves; and over time we realize that God will begin to speak more deeply to our souls.

It may be that God allows us to simply rest in his presence and love. Or he may enliven our faith and direct us to some action. Centering prayer makes us more receptive to his will. And it shapes the rest of our praying—be it expressions of praise and thanksgiving or prayers of petition and intercession. I mention these benefits because we are a utilitarian people. We want to know if something works and what it will do for us. But I think Frederick Faber of the 19^th Century understood it best when he wrote,

"Only to sit and think of God, To think the thought, the breathe the Name