Someone writing about mental composure for the beginning of prayer compared it to one of those novelties in a souvenir store. A container of water has a scene inside. When the container is shaken, particles like snow fly all around. When the particles settle, the original scene is restored.
If we enter into prayer with a flurry of ideas about everything, we can hardly expect to be able to concentrate on the topic chosen for prayer. There has to be a settling down of one’s imagination. How to do it requires a strategy.
We must want to be in touch with God through prayer. This is easier said than done because we naturally are attracted to our own ideas and to things around us. When we participate in the Eucharist, for instance, perhaps we are so involved in the details of planning a family gathering that little attention is given to where we are and what we are doing.
If we can bring ourselves to let go got a time of our striving to do everything just right and instead put it in the hands of God, we would employ a strategy which composes us for praying.
Another strategy is quiet reading of a spiritual book before we enter into praying. Or we could just pause and reflect on what we are about to do. There has to be a calming down from any hectic pursuit if our relationship with god is to develop in the period of praying whether it is vocal or mental prayer.
We understand all of this when it is applied to a natural event like going to a banquet. We know that we should not arrive out of breath and perspiring from running the last three blocks to the banquet hall. Better to be late and composed than looking like a hunted rabbit. You can apply this idea to the usual kind of distraction which dominates your mind when you begin to pray.
So when you want to pray, compose yourself, calm down, put aside worries and anxieties, focus on God, trust Him to take care of whatever seems to demand all of your concentration.
Let’s apply this now to praying one Our Father. Pause. Compose yourself by turning off worries and anxieties. Reflect that you are going to recite the prayer given to the apostles when they asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Think about the One to whom you are going to pray—God the Father. Now recite slowly with attention to each word:
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”
After reciting this prayer as well as you can, reflect on how you succeeded. What did you learn about yourself when trying to pray which you hope to correct the next time so that your praying will be a better raising of the mind and heart to God? Of course, reciting a prayer and attending to the words is a very basic form of praying—but it is praying. And God will be very pleased with your effort to relate to Him in prayer.
This relating to God is the objective of prayer. We can get caught up in the mechanism of praying, in techniques, in where to pray, in our kneeling, or standing, or sitting, or lying down. But if in our praying we do not enter into a relationship with God, then our effort counts for little or nothing.
We don’t pray with the idea of showing others ‘what a great person I am at praying.’ We don’t use prayer to get a lot of new and fascinating ideas. We should not pray in order to feel good or to strengthen our self-satisfaction. No doubt you see that praying is to be a precious time with God when the self is put aside. It is not to be an occasion when we try to get something but when we try to give ourselves completely to God.
You may be sure that your self-giving will enrich your life with god’s gifts. But you don’t pray for what He will give to you but for what you can give to God. Your attention and composure at the beginning of prayer helps greatly towards God’s giving.