Centering Prayer Quotes

“RESIST no thought; RETAIN no thought; REACT to no thought; RETURN to the sacred word.”
― Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening

“Another way to think about Centering Prayer is training the mind to become free from distractions so it can “rest in God.”
― Amos Smith, Healing the Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots

“The Alexandrian Mystics’ emphasis on silent prayer gave their teachings interior depth missing from Western theology today.”
― Amos Smith, Healing the Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots

“We are summoned not only to intimacy but to take possession of our very oneness with the Son of God in the inner life of the Trinity in the communication of the very Love of Father and Son, the Most Holy Spirit. This is what centering prayer is about.”
― Basil Pennington, Centered Living: The Way of Centering Prayer

“Centering Prayer is an opening, a response, a putting aside of all the debris that stands in the way of our being totally present to the present Lord, so that He can be present to us. It is a laying aside of thoughts, so that the heart can attend immediately to Him. All prayer is a response. The Lord first knocks, beckons, calls to us.”
― Basil Pennington, Centering Prayer: Renewing an Ancient Christian Prayer Form

“Learn to listen to subtle cues from your spirit instead of the barrage coming from your brain.”
― David Brazzeal, Pray Like a Gourmet: Creative Ways to Feed Your Soul

“I struggled to find just the right words so He would understand the nature and motive of my request. It suddenly dawned on me that I was an idiot. "What a goose," Pascaline Coff whispered to me when I told this story to her fellow Benedictine sisters. God already knew my heart.”
― Chris Manion, God's Patient Pursuit of My Soul

“I can't learn or will myself into God's holiness, but my own willpower and planning can make all of the difference in whether I am present for God and his transformation.”
― Ed Cyzewski, Flee, Be Silent, Pray: An Anxious Evangelical Finds Peace with God through Contemplative Prayer