How does one meditate? How does one progress through the different levels of prayer?

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kikiki32

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Hello:

I’ve just registered here. I’m a Catholic man who feels more and more called to God after years of wandering away from him, not being serious about my faith.

I know God calls me to pray beyond simple vocal prayer. I’m thirsty of God. I can read and read about God. But when it comes to my prayer life, I’m a raw beginner. So I ask you:

1. How is one supposed to practice meditation? Just by reading scripture and reflecting on it? How does one find topics to meditate on outside scripture?

2. How does one progress from there to affective prayer or prayer of simplicity? And how can one achieve it… having a busy life?

3 Has any of you reached affective prayer/prayer of simplicity? What can you tell me about them?

Thanks.
 
It is a process. You have to practice and approach meditation with humility and an open heart. You will get better at it in time.
 
Thank you very much @Shakuhachi @Annie and Dan_Defender. I’ll read your links and listen to the talk you mentioned.

I think God constantly tries to bring us close to Him. In my case, He’s been doing that through the course of a whole decade (and continues to do so) in a very subtle way. But now he’s making me feel “thirsty” of Him. I definitely feel the desire of knowing Him intimately, and hope I can achieve it in the rest of my life (or that I have enough “rest of life” to achieve it). That’s why I feel called to profound prayer.

But I also know myself and know that I’m not consistent, that I tend to avoid suffering, and that I’m weak (and I very quickly remember that last point whenever I forget it). That I lack inner silence and that I have a busy job. That many days I just prefer not to make an extra effort to silently pray. I feel the desire of knowing God intimately… but do i really want it if I don’t make enough time each day?
 
I started with the rosary.
It began when I read about the eRosary - I downloaded the app & later decided to purchase the rosary bracelet.

There is a short discussion about it here, where I posted some pics of the bracelet & the app.

The app is wonderful and I continue to use it nearly every day. (You don’t need the bracelet for the app to guide you through the prayers.)

Anyway, I have continued with this rosary meditation daily since starting in November and I’m finding that I too am now thirsting for more prayer. But now prayer seems more accessible to me than it did before.

I think being guided through it allowed me to relax into the habit and now I’m finding that other types of prayer are easier to incorporate into my day.
 
Best book I know, Fr Jaques Phillippe “Time For God”
 
I was just about to recommend this book too! A great little book for moving through stages of prayer, very down to earth and practical. One of my favorites. Fr. Philippe is a wise spiritual guide.
 
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Thank you everyone. I’ve just started reading the book “Time for God”, and like its straightforward approach, and its final appendix on prayer methods.

I hope I can finally start progressing a bit in my prayer life! At least, I’ll pray for it 😄
 
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