Contemplative Prayer Practices

The following are collection of forms of contemplative prayer practices to promote encounter with God and centred living to be used to sustain a spiritual rhythm to the day. The draw on Benedictine, Ignatian, Franciscan and Carmelite spirituality, the basis to our John Marshall contemplative community, which seeks to promote a way of life as ‘contemplative action’.

The Examen

The Examen contemplative practice reflects on the day, and seeks to assist the participant in discerning God in the details of the day, both the good and the challenging. The prayer helpfully assumes that God is very present in our lives but we are often so busy and inattentive that we do not notice where God has spoken. It is a good to have a form of note book or journal to assist this form of reflection, so we do not miss or forget where God has been, or what gift or insight we have gained. To download a written version of this practice click here.

Centering Prayer 5mins Practice

Centering prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to cooperate with this gift. During the time of prayer we consent to God’s presence and action within us. At other times our attention moves outward to discover God’s presence everywhere. To download a written version of this practice click here

Centering Prayer with Lectio Divina

This prayer combines Centering Prayer with the practice of Lectio Divina, a process of reflecting encounter with God. This reflection draws on the Lord’s Prayer as recorded in the Gospel of St Matthew in the Bible recorded at Matthew 6:9-16, 25, 31-34. To download a written version of this practice click here.

Ignatian Contemplation on God’s Love

Ignatian spiritual practices offer enormous opportunities for us seeking to dig deeper with a contemplative life. Of these practices, is a way of reflection on our experiences of God’s love and also a more spiritual of engaging with the bible. This prayer practice requires time to connection with your emotions and your thinking. For a down load of this prayer practice click here

Praying with the Trinity

Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite monastic from Dijon developed an approach to joining in with the Holy Trinity in Prayer. This has eight stages to it. For a download of this prayer practice click here

The Jesus Prayer

Possibly one of the most important and ancient forms of prayer coming from the Eastern Orthodox Church said as an anchor word prayer that be said with prayer beads.

Walking meditation

This meditation is specifically for when walking