Silence

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trmyjs

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I have trouble completely clearing my mind to let God speak to me in times of silent prayer. Any advice on getting better at this?
 
I know that sometimes staring at an image of a saint, Jesus, or the Blessed Mother helps.
 
When you find yourself being distracted by idle thoughts, just put the thoughts to one side (so to speak) and ignore them, rather than focusing on them for the sake of “fighting” them.
 
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to further develop the virtue of patience.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I feel they will help. 🙂

God bless!
 
Don’t focus on the thoughts that are distracting you, just let them pass through, and gently bring yourself back to praying.

God bless.
 
trmyjs said:
I have trouble completely clearing my mind to let God speak to me in times of silent prayer. Any advice on getting better at this?
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There are prayer forms specifically designed to invite God to speak to us in our silence. One such practice is Lectio Divina, or Divine Reading. It is a traditional practice in monasteries, but nowadays there are Lectio Divina groups which lay people may attend. Lectio Divina actually includes different depths of prayer, such as oration, meditation, and contemplation.

Check out sections 2709-2724 of the Catechism for more information about contemplative prayer in general. Maybe there is a group near you that engages in Lectio Divina or other contemplative prayer forms.

Alan
 
Little_One0307 said:
Don’t focus on the thoughts that are distracting you, just let them pass through, and gently bring yourself back to praying.

God bless.
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I agree. Let them pass through. Some thoughts are delightful and others are troubling, but we embrace and mentally examine any given thought, or if we fight it, either was we are focused on that thought … it can take some practice to get good at gently letting them go without giving them any regard whatsoever; I have practiced silent prayer on and off for about 10 years and sometimes it is still a challenge to me to let go.

Alan
 
I say incorporate those thoughts into your prayer - they’re usually there for a reason, and all that is usually required for them to go away is a bit of acknowledgement and taking to God in prayer.
 
God bless those who can empty their minds to be filled by Jesus Christ.

A holy hour in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament seems to be one place where I can still my mind, maybe not entirely, and certainly not for the whole hour, but more so than anytime or anywhere else.

I may begin by reading something from Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ, just opening it to any page and reading one or two paragraphs. Then I meditate on one of the paragraphs that seems appropriate (and there is so much of it that applies) until I feel quiet, and just let things go. Sometimes whole minutes go by. I like to think that those are minutes when Christ is in me and I in He.
 
PattiDay said:
God bless those who can empty their minds to be filled by Jesus Christ.

A holy hour in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament seems to be one place where I can still my mind, maybe not entirely, and certainly not for the whole hour, but more so than anytime or anywhere else.

I may begin by reading something from Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ, just opening it to any page and reading one or two paragraphs. Then I meditate on one of the paragraphs that seems appropriate (and there is so much of it that applies) until I feel quiet, and just let things go. Sometimes whole minutes go by. I like to think that those are minutes when Christ is in me and I in He.
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I’m not familiar with those particular meditations, but I share your experience that many times it is only for a minute or two here and there until my mind becomes active again. That isn’t a problem; I’m pretty sure that’s just the way it works.

I also agree that during adoration hour is a great time to practice this because you’ve already devoted the hour to being in the presence of God and generally are not going to have any distractions. 🙂

To the OP: Another resource is a book that as far as I know is unchallenged as a masterpiece in mystical theology, called the Cloud of the Unknowing. Like it says at the beginning of the book, it isn’t for everyone, but it may be worth checking into. There are quite a few translations including some free ones on line, although the ones I’ve seen online thus far are difficult for me to read. The translation my spiritual director recommended to me and that I like is by William Johnston, who has authored other books on mystical theology. The Cloud was written by an unknown author sometime around the 13th or 14th century, as I recall.

That said, have you heard of spiritual direction? I am a cradle Catholic and I never even heard of it until I was 42 years old. I was fortunate to find an excellent one, Father Pecht in Wichita, and saw him monthly (for an extremely low fee – like $10 suggested but voluntary donation) for a couple years until he retired. It really opened my eyes up to beautiful things I never got in my first 42 years without an SD.

To LilyM: have you ever been formally introduced to any types of contemplative prayer forms? It isn’t necessarily for everyone, but the CCC actually does recommend in para. 2708 of its article on forms of prayer that prayer life should go beyond even meditation into contemplative prayer forms which invite true union with God. Many people think these prayer forms should be entered into at first with guidance from a priest of SD, and I think that’s a wonderful idea.

Alan
 
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