Contemplative prayer what is it? Being with God.

...I want to commend a particular sort of prayer. Important though the Offices, prayerful reading of the scriptures, and receiving communion are, there is no substitute for just being with God. For that, we simply need to find a place and time of quiet for the Spirit to search our deepest selves. Finding time to do this might be hard, and the process of being completely still for a few minutes can feel unbearable. It can seem anything but quiet at first.

Prayer begins with a racket, the noise of all the different parts of us wanting to be heard. That won’t be comfortable. We have to cultivate the discipline of sitting quietly and waiting while all those bits and pieces of ourselves crowd in on us, and plead for our attention. If we can sit that out, we shall begin to hear through the clamour a great river, springing from our innermost depths, sweeping away superficial influences. Prayer will then enable us to become aware of the deepest longings that rise from our hearts, the voice of which we are generally not conscious.

by kind permission of John Inge (the July '22 Church Times)

We hope that you will be inspired by this definition of contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer, also referred to as "silent love"  is about being aware of God's presence, a practice which has its roots in the earliest part of Christianity.

The selection of resources below will support you towards your journey on contemplative prayer.  We will augment these resources with some online talks and sessions in the next few weeks.  If you are interested in contemplative prayer please contact us at the Parish Office

From the Diocese of Leeds: https://www.leeds.anglican.org/prayer-spirituality/resources

Contemplative prayer practice: https://anglicanprayer.org/resources/Contemplative%20Prayer_2017.pdf

Seeds of silence: https://www.seedsofsilence.org.uk/organisations.html

Contemplative Outreach: https://contemplativeoutreach.org.uk/

Quiet gardens in the South East of England https://quietgarden.org/find-gardens/uk/england/south-east/