Here is some help in being silent when you get to Section 3 of each entry:

We all know about one-way conversations where someone keeps talking but never listens.   In our prayer, it is expected that we might tell our story to God and believe that God listens.   Then we also need to pause and be ready for God to speak to us, perhaps not in a rip-roaring theophany with thunder and lightning, but in the silence of our hearts.

There are several books available to engage in this kind of silence.  It is practiced by monks and by secular people as well.  Books on “Centering Prayer” by Basil Pennington OCSO is one such book.

Some people practice Yoga as meditation as well.

Here is one suggestion:

1. Sit in a comfortable chair with good posture. Relax your limbs, hands resting on your knees.
2. Control your breathing. Inhale for a slow count of 8, hold your breath a moment and then exhale slowly to a count of 8.   Don’t try to think about anything but concentrate on your breathing.

• Have a word you can repeat: Love, thanks, safe, Lord, God.   As you relax become aware of God’s presence around you and in you.  Just relax in that presence, concentrating on your lifegiving breathing.  As you breath in, imagine the Spirit of God entering, enlivening and supporting you.   Be patient, and repeat.  A short time is fine, especially in the beginning.  After a while, thoughts will be coming into your consciousness which then you can express as prayer – your prayer.

Lastly, refer to #32 below, it provides a practice that helps the reader to reflect on the particular experiences of the day or of the week.   It is called an Examen.  It roots spirituality in the here and now and provides the material for mindfulness.   It is a practice we recommend in addition to this sequence of prayer.

Reading and praying with Scripture:   There are different ways to read and pray with scripture.  One can read entire books of the bible and make a plan to read them all.   One can read the passage, read a good commentary, and then read and pray again with added insight into what circumstances were addressed when that book was completed.

Lectio Divina is a way of reading and praying with scripture.  One reads the passage four times, each time allowing for a deeper experience of God by active and passive reflection.   Cf., Lectio Divina, A Beginners Guide by Elizabeth Manneh.

Jesuits whose spirituality is founded on the Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, utilize “Ignatian Imagination,” in which the person places themselves imaginatively within the bible story.   For example, as a bystander/witness to the curing of the man born blind or as the blind man himself.   This leads to affective responses of wonder, gratitude and belief.

The scripture in this prayer book springs from executive experiences.   You might imaginatively have the bible character be present in your circumstances.  What would the character say to you?   If Daniel, Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Rachel, Apostles, Martyrs, Jesus Himself were with you, what advice would they give you?

Hopefully, you will have a wonderful and sustained encounter with God, dialoguing, listening and growing as a leader of integrity and faith.