Centering Prayer

“We want to see.” (Matthew 21:33 NLT)

God sees and knows everything. So, why pray?

Most of our prayers are self-referential. We place ourselves in the center and look at things from our perspective. How things affect us is our primary concern. When we intercede for others, we try to identify with their pain and plead with God to relieve their suffering. Thus, even in intercessory prayer, our ego is still in the center.

“True contemplatives surrender some of their own ego boundaries and identity so that God can see through them, with them, and in them—with a larger pair of eyes. It is quite simply a higher level of seeing; it is deep consciousness.” (Eager to Love, Richard Rohr)

God is and always will be in the center. Centering prayer acknowledges this and moves to the inner core where God is present. Our egos are laid aside, and we become as trusting as a little child approaching a loving parent. We ask our Father to lift us up in His arms so we can see from His perspective. He scoops us up in His strong, caring arms. We become less afraid. Words become unnecessary. We see at a higher level. We share in a consciousness deeper than our own.

Lord, lift us up in Your arms, so that we may see and experience the larger reality from Your perspective.