by Rev. John G. Deschner, pastor of Loranger UMC, and Cherri Johnson, Spiritual Director

     Tony Campolo, featured speaker at the conference-sponsored Rethink Evangelism event held last November, says he starts each day with centering prayer. The renowned evangelist added that he ends each day with a “prayer of examine.”
     These two prayer steps, he added, are central to his daily life and spiritual practice. Campolo went on to say that when it comes to evangelism, “Who you are is the witness. Who you are speaks louder than anything you are going to say. Most of what I have to say today is simply reaching back into the teachings of John Wesley, who made it very clear that before you can ever move out and be evangelistic and win people to Christ, this has to be said: You yourself have to be spiritually enlivened.”
     Campolo devoted a large part of his first session at the Rethink Evangelism event to talking about prayer and spiritual renewal, and how important they are for evangelism.  We must experience God’s love if we hope to share it with others. This is not a new concept . . . it is one as old as our Christian heritage.
     The following article takes a deeper look at centering prayer and gives the steps to performing this kind of prayer. Tony Campolo encouraged us all to spend more time in prayer— both for the sake of evangelism and for the sake of our own relationship with God.
     At the heart of centering prayer is awareness of God’s presence and love. It allows us to “know” God and the love of God as a present tense experience, even if only for a few moments. This kind of prayer calls for listening more than talking. The fundamental dynamic of centering prayer is quiet openness to God, releasing our thoughts as they arise, rather than coming to God with our own agenda or requests.
     A simple form of centering prayer consists of five steps:
        1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to draw closer to God, and of your consent to let God love you. Your sacred word may be a single word— such as “Abba,” “Friend,” “Presence”—or a phrase—such as “Christ be with me.” Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a word as you begin to pray.
        2. Set aside at least 10 or 15 minutes for prayer. Sitting comfortably with eyes closed, breathe deeply and enter into silence. Repeat your sacred word several times as an expression of your desire to draw closer to God.
        3. Seek quiet listening, and awareness of God in the present moment.
        4. When thoughts or images arise, return to your sacred word to refocus your attention on God. Allow the image or thought to slip away.
        5. At the end of your prayer period, remain in silence for several minutes with your eyes closed. Give thanks for blessings you have received. If indeed you experienced God’s loving presence, you will return to the world with a sense of inner peace, joy and consolation. As with any spiritual practice, this form of prayer takes time and commitment. Don’t make the mistake of trying it once and quitting because nothing seemed to happen. Be patient. God is at work in and through your desire to draw closer. As Tony Campolo said to nearly 1,200 United Methodist last November, “I wish I could say it happens every morning. … But when it does happen, oh, it is within me like ‘a fountain of living water’, says Jesus, and it just flows out of me.” When you first try centering prayer, commit to repeating it several days in a row.
     The benefits of centering prayer are revealed over time. Such benefits include greater awareness of God’s indwelling presence; an increase in creative energy; a decrease in compulsive behavior; a reduction of negative thoughts and greater freedom to respond positively to them when they do arise; a greater ability to accept difficult situations; an expanded capacity to accept others without rejecting or judging them; and the ability to love more fully and freely. These indwelling graces enliven our spirits and help draw others to the love of God. Thus, as Tony Campolo suggested, evangelism flows naturally from prayer.
     As we were completing this article, we heard a radio interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who also spoke of this kind of prayer in his life. The interviewer asked, “Have you found that your relationship to God has changed as you’ve grown older?” “Yes, I am learning to shut up more in the presence of God,” he said, laughing. “Previously you, and I still do, have a kind of shopping list that you bring to God. But more and more, I think, you are trying to grow in just being there. Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire, and you don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.” (“Desmond Tutu, Insisting We Are ‘Made For Goodness’”, National Public Radio, Morning Edition, 3/11/2010) Excellent resources for those who wish to learn more about centering prayer are:
        “Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God: The Practice of Centering Prayer” by J. David Muyskens, Upper Room Books, 2006. Available from Cokesbury.
        “Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel” by Father Thomas Keating, Continuum International Publishing, 2006. Available from Cokesbury.
     There are trained Spiritual Directors around the Louisiana Conference who can help with centering prayer (contact Linda Gregg at 225-346-1646 for information). Cherri Johnson teaches classes on centering prayer at the McMains Center for Spiritual Formation at First UMC in Baton Rouge (contact 225-383-4777). The various “tracks” of Louisiana Conference Academy for Spiritual Leadership also include learning Centering Prayer (contact Linda Gregg). Dr. Anthony Campolo is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University in St. David’s, Pennsylvania.  For 10 years, he was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, and he is the founder and president of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education. He is a prolific author and speaker.