Preparation for Prayer and Meditation
Study and master the simple and necessary principles set forth in the following paragraphs.
First – Relaxation
Long experience shows that physical relaxation is a great aid to the reception of vital truths and influences. As long as the body is tense it seems that the mind and spirit attitude is aggressive and in a sense neutralizes the Divine before it comes into contact with the inner life. The Divine makes its habitation most naturally and easily in the mind and spirit where the state of receptivity is most nearly perfect.
Seek quiet and seclusion. Relax. Loose the hold of muscles and nerves. So strive for perfect relaxation throughout your body.
There is no progress without relaxation.
Second – Concentration
Scattered thoughts and uncentered will dissipate power and close the avenues of approach to the soul.
Shut out the world. Think of one thing – the one all desirable thing for the present. One step at a time must be the rule of your growing life in God. And that one step must deal with the Great Underlying Principle not with the lesser and partial manifestations of it. Waste no time with details – they confuse the soul in its struggle for the Truth.
Focus every faculty upon the possession of the one thing. You are preparing to give truth an unimpeded entrance to your inner life. Stir in your heart a longing for God’s presence and all that his Presence means. Open wide the doors of your mind and soul for his blessing.
There is no progress without concentration.
Third – Contemplation
Before you can be you must see.
Paint for your soul the picture of your desire. Visualize your ideal. God intended your imagination for use.
Time must be spent in the contemplation of the ideal you would have master your life and the truth you desire to become.
There is no progress without contemplation.
Fourth – Affirmation
If you are to succeed in your search for truth, serenity, and power, each step must be an affirmation. With respect to your faith in God and your communion with him every doubt must be cast aside.
In your struggle for life-mastery there can be no negations. The whole universe of truth is powerless to help you until you approach it with sympathy and intention.
Truth is affirmative, not negative.
There is no progress without affirmation. Be as simple and natural as you can. Let your soul speak to God.
If it is difficult at first to form your petitions or to give full expression to your inmost thoughts, time and effort will overcome that limitation and bring a rich blessing.
“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.”
1 John 4: 16.
Meditation
Meditation or mental prayer is thinking about God, listening to his words to us, and then acting upon what we have learned from him.
Preparation
1. The Foundation – We really prepare first of all for meditation by our lives; by trying to live as followers of Our Lord, by remembering our duties and privileges as members of his Household of Faith; the Church, and by living up to these.
2. Next – It is customary to read over the passage from the Bible, or whatever devotional reading we have chosen, the night before, in order that we may be ready for it the following day.
3. Then – There are three short steps as we begin our Meditation.
a. We remind ourselves that we are in God’s Presence.
b. We think of our own unworthiness.
c. We ask for the help and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
Usually all of these are very short steps, but if we are impelled to linger in this part of our Meditation we should always do so.
Most people find the morning the best time for mental prayer, but this of course depends upon the individual and his work schedule. The amount of time allotted to it also varies with the individual and his work. Ten minutes is about the minimum which we need. More time is better if we can afford it; but it is far better to make a ten-minute meditation every single day than to do a half-hour or longer only once in a while.
Meditation Proper
Read over the passage, slowly and carefully.
1. Picture the scene to yourself: become part of the scene.
2. What thoughts does this suggest to us? What feelings? Adoration? Penitence? Thanksgiving? Express these feelings and thoughts to God in simple acts (i.e. expressions of such feelings or thoughts).
3. What am I going to do about it? Make some simple resolution – definite and concrete, not some vague generality.
Thanksgiving
We end our Meditation by thanking God for what he has made clear to us, what he has taught us or pointed out to us for this day, and ask him to keep us always closely united in will with him.
Sample Meditation
The following meditation based on the Epistle and Gospel for Whitsunday, Prayer Book, pages 180–181 is a suggestion of the kind of Meditation which could be made on any of the great passages from Scripture. The period before we go to the altar rail, or after we have returned to our seats, offers a splendid opportunity for quiet reflection.
Having read the Epistle and Gospel for Whitsunday then picture the setting – the disciples expectant but uncertain, – Christ no longer with them in the flesh, – Jesus’ promise before them (The Gospel), then that glorious fulfillment of the experience of Pentecost described in the Epistle. No longer vacillating, uncertain, drawn in different directions: the disciples were altogether with a common purpose and thus they were ready for the flame of the Holy Spirit to enlighten their minds and enkindle their hearts. They had been praying together constantly and this united them in their love of their Lord and Master so that they were ready to become instruments of his Divine plan.
Having pictured the historical setting, let us turn to its meaning for us. The disciples, like us, were laymen, with no special equipment save a consuming loyalty. The establishment of the Church was in their hands even as its continuance is partly in ours. We today, like these first disciples, are living in a world of confusion, of anxiety and anguish but we have Christ’s promise of continuing help through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Close your Meditation with an act of resolution. Determine that no task or burden will be too great for you if you remember to confide in his strength. Set yourself some definite task for the days ahead, some word of witness or some expression of discipleship.
Close with the following Collect on page 182 of the Prayer Book:
Almighty and most merciful God, grant, we beseech thee, that by the indwelling of thy Holy Spirit, we may be enlightened and strengthened for thy service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
A Morning Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, in whom we live and move and have our being; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may pass this day in gladness and peace, without stumbling and without stain; that, reaching the eventide victorious over all temptation, we may praise thee, the eternal God, who art blessed, and dost govern all things, world without end. Amen.
Mozarabic Liturgy
Christ the King
Christ is the King! O friends upraise
Anthems of joy and holy praise
For his brave saints of ancient days,
Who with a faith forever new
Followed the King and round him drew
Thousands of faithful men and true.
O Christian women, Christian men,
All the world over, seek again
The Way disciples follow’d then.
Christ through all ages is the same:
Place the same hope in his great Name,
With the same faith his word proclaim.
Let Love’s unconquerable might
Your scattered companies unite
In service to the Lord of light:
So shall God’s will on earth be done,
New lamps be lit, new tasks begun,
And the whole Church at last be one.
George Kennedy Allen Bell
A Morning Prayer
O God, who wakenest sleeping night with the magic touch of dawn; Lay thy morning hand on all my faculties which sleep and fill them with the light of thy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bishop Brent
An Evening Prayer
O God, who hast drawn over weary day the restful veil of night, enfold us in thy heavenly peace. Lift from our hands our tasks, and all through the night bear in thy bosom the full weight of our burdens and sorrows; that in untroubled slumber we may press our weariness close to thy strength, and win new power for the morrow’s duties from thee, who givest to thy beloved sleep; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bishop Brent
For the Unfortunate
O Thou, who understandest the frailty of the human heart; Hear our prayer for those who have been unfortunate in life and bruised in spirit; those who have toiled without success; those who have endured with no outside encouragement; those who have given up all earthly prospects to comfort the aged, and care for the maimed; those who are lonely in heart; for them we know not what to ask, but thou knowest, O Lover of Souls, Saviour of mankind for ever. Amen.
Acts of Devotion
For Peace
Kindle, O God, the desire for peace in the hearts of all men, and guide the nations with thy wisdom; that thy Kingdom may go forward in power, till the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Westminster Prayers
Heavenly Father, I cannot speak thy name and be petty; I cannot call myself thy child and sow discord. For when I am faithful thou dost guide me in all my ways and keep me clear in mind and spirit. Thou hast promised to those who love thee and seek to do thy will the peace which passeth understanding. Help me to grow each day to love thee more and to do thy will better. So let thy peace be mine as thy love enlargeth my soul and thy mercy covereth my faults, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
For Renewed Consecration
O Eternal God, who committest to us the swift and solemn trust of life; Since we know not what a day may bring forth, but only that the hour for serving thee is always present, may we wake to the instant claims of thy holy will, not waiting for tomorrow, but yielding today. Lay to rest, by the persuasion of thy Spirit, the resistance of our passion, indolence or fear. Consecrate with thy presence the way our feet may go, and the humblest work will shine, and the roughest places be made plain. Lift us above unrighteous anger and mistrust into faith and hope and charity by a simple and steadfast reliance on thy sure will. In all things draw us to the mind of Christ, that thy lost image may be traced again and thou mayest own us as at one with him and thee, who art with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
James Martineau
A Prayer for the Night
O Lord our God, who alone makest us to dwell in safety; Refresh with quiet sleep, this night, those who are wearied with the labors of the day; and mercifully protect from harm all who put their trust in thee; that lying down in peace to take our rest, we may fear no evil, but confidently give ourselves into thy holy keeping; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Cento from William Bright
A Prayer for the Night
O Lord, who watchest over thy children while they sleep; Receive us and all we love into thy keeping; forgive us wherein we have been ungrateful; wherein we have done our best grant that we may forget our failure. Be a resting place for all who are in any trouble. Defend great causes in Church and Nation, for without thee those who watch them wake in vain. Guard the workers of the night, keeping far from them the powers of darkness; and to all others grant the gift of sleep, that when the morning cometh the whole world may rejoice in thy light; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Bishop Slattery
For Simplicity
Lord, temper with tranquility
Our manifold activity;
That we may do our work for thee
With very great simplicity. Amen.
16th Century
For Right Thinking
Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do anything that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayers
Blessed Saviour, who at this hour didst hang upon the Cross, stretching forth thy loving arms; Grant that all mankind may look unto thee, and be saved; through thy mercies and merits, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost ever, one God. World without end. Amen.
Bishop Coxe
Almighty Saviour, who at midday didst call thy servant Saint Paul to be an Apostle to the Gentiles; We beseech thee, illumine the world with the radiance of thy glory, that all nations may come and worship thee, who art, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
For the Spirit of Brotherhood
O God, the Father of all mankind, we beseech thee to inspire us with such love, truth and equity, that in all our dealings one with another we may show forth our brotherhood in thee; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Acts of Devotion
Prayer Sonnet
Go thou into thy closet; shut thy door;
And pray to him in secret; he will hear.
But think not thou, by one wild bound, to clear
The numberless ascensions, more and more,
Of starry stairs that must be climbed before
Thou comest to the Father’s likeness near,
And bendest down to kiss the feet so dear
That step by step, their mounting flights passed o’er.
Be thou content if on thy weary need
There falls a sense of showers and of the spring;
A hope that makes it possible to fling
Sickness aside, and go and do the deed —
For highest aspiration will not lead
Unto the calm beyond all questioning.
Prayer Sonnet
Hark, hark, a voice amid the quiet intense!
It is thy Duty waiting thee without.
Rise from thy knees in hope, the half of doubt,
A hand doth pull thee — it is Providence,
Open thy door straightway, and get thee hence;
Go forth into the tumult and the shout;
Work, love, with workers, lovers, all about —
Of noise alone is born the inward sense
Of silence; and from action springs alone
The inward knowledge of true love and faith.
Then, weary, go thou back with failing breath
And in thy chamber make thy prayer and moan;
One day upon his bosom, all thine own,
Thou shalt lie still, embraced in holy death.
Prayer Sonnet
And should the twilight darken into night,
And sorrow grow to anguish, be thou strong;
Thou art in God, and nothing can go wrong
Which a fresh life-pulse cannot set aright.
That thou dost know the darkness, proves the light.
Weep if thou wilt, but weep not all too long;
Or weep and work, for work will lead to song.
But search thy heart, if, hid from all thy sight,
There lie no cause for beauty’s slow decay;
If for completeness and diviner youth,
And not for very love, thou seek’st the truth;
If thou hast learned to give thyself away
For love’s own self, not for thyself, I say:
Were God’s love less, the world were lost, in sooth.
Resurrection
A glorious, heaven-born day of early spring!
One radiant smile from earth and sea and sky;
One thrilling note of praise from larks that sing
Rising above the fields exultingly!
O thou who on this day didst die
For us thy children glad new life to bring,
And show the Father’s love forever nigh,
Help us to soar as larks on upward wing,
And praise thee in our lives unceasingly;
May we reflect thy beams of love and light,
Sun of our souls! Grant that our lives may be
As sea and sky, mirrors, unclouded, bright,
Wherein if any look, they shall find thee:
Be this our Easter prayer,
O Lord of Might.
A Litany of Personal Consecration
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Our Father. . . .
That it may please thee to grant me by thy Holy Spirit to hear ever more clearly thy Voice, calling me to a deeper devotion to thy service:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
For grace to respond with my whole heart to thy call:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
For a continual sense of thy abiding Presence and thy overruling guidance in my daily life:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
For a deeper love and earnestness in the act of consecration to thee of myself, my soul and body, that I make anew at each Communion:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
For the illuminating grace of thy Holy Spirit, that I may be guided to use for thee every power and every opportunity thou hast given me:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
(The consecration of Love.)
For grace so to live in the light of thy Divine Love for me that, loving thee above all, I may give to others the sunshine of love which has its source in thee alone:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
(The consecration of Friendship.)
For spiritual insight to realize more fully my influence on others, and grace to use it only and always for thee:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
For wisdom taught of love to understand the needs of my friends, and grace to help them by prayer and sympathy:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
(The consecration of Happiness.)
For a daily renewal of the spirit of true joy which the sense of thy abiding Presence alone can give, that all the joys of my life may be sanctified in thee:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
(The consecration of Trial.)
For a steadfast heart to meet with constant cheerfulness the anxieties and trials of my life, as thy way of sanctification for me:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
(The consecration of Time.)
For inspiration and grace so to worship thee and to serve thee here, that I may be ready for thy perfect service hereafter:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
For a right judgment in giving to each duty its due place and proportion, that my days may be ordered in accordance with thy Divine Will:
O Lord, hear my prayer.
(The consecration of Social Life.)
For grace to make the spirit in which I fulfill all social duties one with the spirit of my inmost life and prayers: