Prayer before meditating
Before beginning meditation, whether it's meditating on a gospel, a lectio divina or a time of silent prayer, we can take time to pray. This time of prayer enables us to turn to God, to ask him for a grace, and to place this time of recollection in a spirit of welcoming and listening to God.
Discover some ideas for introducing your meditation with a prayer
Why pray before meditating?
Christian meditation is a form of prayer. It focuses on God and nurtures our relationship with him. It can take many forms, some of which are silent - like meditative prayer - others which are based onreading the Word, or even its repetition. However, this time of inwardness is not always easy to take, or to keep. (Discover some tips for starting Christian meditation).
Like all our activities, if we entrust them to the Lord and ask for his help, we can be sure that they will bear fruit beyond the difficulties encountered. Words can also help us to anchor ourselves in this moment, to enter consciously into this time of meditation. It can be a time to lay our concerns and worries before God, and come to him lighter and more available.
3 ways to pray before entering meditation
Prayer for meditation
"O God, obtain for me the graces I need to do this meditation well.
"My God, I firmly believe that you are here present, I adore you in the depths of my heart, where you are willing to be, as in your living temple.
O my God, how unworthy I am to appear before your divine Majesty, because of so many sins I have so unfortunately committed, I am sorry for them with all my heart for your sake, and I ask you most humbly for your forgiveness.
Come, Holy Spirit, prepare my soul for prayer, and set my heart ablaze with your holy Love.
Holy Virgin, august Mother of all Christians, obtain for me the graces I need to do this meditation well" (M. l'Abbé Courbon).
Invocation to the Holy Spirit
Abbé Courbon's prayer before meditating includes an invocation to the Holy Spirit. It's a good idea to invoke the Holy Spirit before our prayer or reading of holy texts, so that he may enlighten our understanding and open our hearts to the Word of God.
This can be done quite simply by saying "Come Holy Spirit", or by reciting a prayer such as the prayer to ask for the gifts of the Spirit written by John Paul II.
The Jesus prayer
Another prayer that lends itself well to meditative time is the Jesus prayer, widely practiced by Orthodox Christians. The name of Jesus is simply repeated, underlining the evocative power of this name and responding to the invitation to all Christians to pray always and everywhere. This prayer, also known as the prayer of the heart, is a meditative practice in its own right, but it can also help us turn to Christ before meditate on a gospel passage for example.
