Fr. Jacques Phillippe’s deceptively brief book – Time for God – provides an excellent summary on the importance of, and mindset necessary for, mental prayer (specifically meditation and contemplation – mental prayer is silent prayer, but not all silent prayer is mental prayer; for example you could silently offer prayers of petition, which is fine, but that’s not mental prayer).
Fr. Phillippe makes it clear that it is the unanimous wisdom of the Saints (and the repeated example of Jesus himself) that routine, mental prayer is an absolute necessity for progress in our spiritual life.
Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds Him. – St. Padre Pio
Fr. Phillippe goes on to explain a few very key concepts, summarized below.
Christian mental prayer is fundamentally different from eastern varieties of meditation (yoga, buddism, etc.). In Christian mental prayer we open ourselves up to the Triune God so that He can come to us and do His work in us (as opposed to simply emptying ourselves or being absorbed into a great “all”). In addition, mental prayer (contemplation in particular) is a gift from God – it cannot be distilled into a simple technique to be mastered and more than growing a relationship with another human being can be distilled to a simple technique. All we can do is offer our will (by making ourselves present to God), everything else is up to God. Nonetheless, there are certain principles and dispositions that will help us be present with God (just as they would help us be present in any other relationship):
Faith – trust that God is there even if it doesn’t “feel” like it. God is operating in the spiritual realm, the realm of our soul, whether we feel it or not (see Christian Anthropology). Mother Teresa is a powerful testimony to this – her soul was in communion with God even if for many years she couldn’t feel His presence.
Purity – we pray not to find self-fulfillment or self-satisfaction, but to please God (though by His great generosity, our act of prayer does indeed put us on a path of peace and happiness in this life). Those who love God purely won’t be troubled if it seems like mental prayer “isn’t working”. Even though we can’t love God purely we should aspire to, and aim for it, and practice it as well as we can (don’t let the enemy discourage you).
Humility – “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5) and “The whole edifice of prayer is founded upon humility”, so says St. Teresa of Avila. It is very difficult for us to accept that we are so poor (spiritually); that is one reason why people naturally tend to avoid silence. Humble people are never discouraged because they trust not in themselves but in God.
Persistence – finally our progress in prayer is very dependent on our persistence. It is worth noting that our Christian tradition identifies an order to prayer, starting with persistence (or consistency). First comes consistency, which leads to quality, which leads to quantity:
Consistency – the same as persistence. We have to prioritize God. Be faithful to a set time of mental prayer, always at the same time each day. Spiritual masters recommend our prayer sessions should be at least 30 minutes (and up to a full 60 minute daily Holy hour). A good initial target is 15 minutes per day. And if 15 minutes is too difficult, build up from shorter periods of time.
Quality – like anything else in life quality will come over time. It may take a day, weeks, or months. Have faith that the fruit of consistency is quality; in God’s time mental prayer will become a natural part of your day.
Quantity – once consistency and quality are achieved for a shorter period of mental prayer, you can increase to longer periods of prayer (and the cycle will repeat itself of maintaining consistency, which will bring quality and then more quantity…).