Contributor
Mental Prayer — Why We Need It and How To Do It
The Catechism defines Mental Prayer as a quest to find out what God wants us to do
Any relationship requires bonding time. A close friend we’ve had in high school might have faded away because we haven’t been in touch for a while. At home, even if a family lives under one roof, if they don’t do some bonding activities such as simply conversing with one another (instead of minding their phones the whole day), the relationships will break apart one day.
If this is true for our relationships with humans, it is the same with God because He, too, is a person. (Okay, technically, three persons.) How can we say we have a relationship with Him if we don’t even have conversations with Him that create bonding moments?
Mental Prayer is a type of prayer that creates this kind of bonding opportunity through heartfelt conversation. It is time we set aside to listen to God and converse with him. The Catechism defines Mental Prayer as a quest to find out what God wants us to do. Because of this, we want to do more listening than talking. (Another term for Mental Prayer is “Meditation.” But it isn’t the same as Eastern Meditation or New Age Meditation whose goal is tranquility.)
The four C’s of Mental Prayer are Concentrate, Consider, Converse, and Commit.
Concentrate — Since God is the initiator of all prayer, it means he has something to tell us. It would be logical, then, to put ourselves in a good disposition to listen to him. At the beginning of our mental prayer, we empty ourselves of what is going on around us and focus on God. It is best to choose a quiet time and place where we are less bothered by phone calls, noise, and movements that can be distracting. A short beginning prayer can set the tone.
Consider — We listen to God by reading Scripture for isn’t it the Word of God? If it indeed is his word, then we want to seek its meaning. To do this, we read a passage prayerfully and enter into the scene by moving around it so we can look at the faces of people, especially that of Christ. We want to smell the scene, touch the things in there, taste what people are drinking or eating, listen to the tone of the voices speaking. We should ask what motivations people have when they do or say things. We might want to consider the nuances of culture or language also. We might also see a connection between something in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
When we have chewed on the scene, we then ask ourselves what God is telling us. Is he inspiring us to do something new? Is he asking us to resolve to change something? Is he kindling in us more affection for him, or his mother, or his Church? This is the part where we consider what God wants of us.
One can use Scripture for this part. We can take up where we left off yesterday, or we can follow the Lectionary that is based on the readings of the day following the liturgical calendar. We can also listen to a song used in the liturgy (whose lyrics are based on Scripture).
Converse — As we read, something might strike us as funny, odd, interesting, or heartwarming. Pause a while and stick with the verse and start a conversation with Our Lord. If it is funny, share it with God; tell him why you find it funny. If it fills you with awe, give him praise. If it makes you cry, tell our Lord why. Sometimes you don’t even have to use words for the Holy Spirit reaches out to the Father through our wordless groans. If the passage fills you with contrition, ask forgiveness — and graces to combat it the next time. If the verse fills you with gratitude, give thanks. These are not the only reactions possible, of course. A particular verse may strike different people differently; it might even strike you differently at a different time in your life. We are not prevented from speaking with Mary, the saints, and the angels, so feel free to include them too.
Commit — in the conversation part, we go back and forth between listening and conversing — with more importance to the listening part. However, there will come a time when your mental prayer must end. For beginners it may be ten minutes; for someone who is used to it, it can be thirty minutes or even an hour. At this point, focus one one of the things that touched you most, and resolve to do it. Ask God’s grace to help you. Ask your guardian angels to help you too. A good idea is to infuse this in your work for the day (or the next day if you pray at night.) Just as it was good to start with a prayer, ending with one is also recommended.
In Conclusion
Mental Prayer requires four things: quiet time, honest talking, intent listening, and frequent encounters. We should set a time when we should do our mental prayers and stick to the schedule as if it were an appointment. We speak to God honestly, without hiding anything from him. Speak with him with all your usual inflections and linguistic mannerisms. But speak with reverence too. Listen, listen, listen. We can’t listen if we keep talking, so we must stop doing the talking and give God a chance to talk. Do mental prayer frequently — daily is the suggested practice.
Some books have commentaries on the Gospels that help our minds in Mental Prayer. A good one is The Better Part by Fr. John Bartunek (ISBN 978–0–9916038–6–2 published by Ministry 23, Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Better-Part-Christ-Centered-Resource-Personal/dp/0991603869/) The back of the book has a guide to readings of the liturgical calendar.
Another book is To Know Christ Jesus by Frank J. Sheed (ISBN 978–1887593052, Published by Angelico Press, Nov. 21, 2013, or Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Know-Christ-Jesus-F-Sheed/dp/1887593055/)
And yet another is Life of Christ by Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (ISBN 978–0385132206, by Image Books, Nov. 1, 1990, or https://www.amazon.com/Life-Christ-Fulton-J-Sheen/dp/0385132204/)
Ave Maria!
