I first encountered the power of contemplative prayer through Ignatian Composition of Place. St. Ignatius of Loyola encouraged people to engage their whole body in prayer, using all their senses. This type of prayer evokes all the senses and unleashes the power of the imagination. You begin to see the scene, smell the flowers, touch your surroundings, and taste air. I have used this type of prayer extensively in my own life and have found it incredibly fruitful. 

However I, like most people, am not that good at staying focused during prayer. I found it helpful to write my own mediations based off of past prayer periods and scripture study and then record them so that I can simply listen to a guided meditation in the chapel with a pair of earphones. I found it easier to practice this type of prayer when a voice was guiding me through it.

So how is it done? First, find a place to pray, preferably before the Blessed Sacrament. Put yourself in the presence of God, ask for the Holy Spirit to guide your contemplation. Next, grab your Bible and read the passage that you will be contemplating. Read it a second time but this time much slower, soaking in every word. Put the Bible down and sit up straight with your hands on your knees in a chair. Breathe deeply for several minutes calling on the Holy Spirit. Then simply press play and do exactly as the recording says. You will be asked to visualize with your imagination all types of things. Do your best to smell the air around you or feel the sand on your feet or the water splashing against your legs. Whatever it is, enter deeply! Use your whole person in the prayer. At certain points the voice guiding the mediation will bring you face to face with Jesus, when you get to these points just rest. Don’t make your prayer happen, just use your imagination to build the scene and then let God take over.

I pray that you find this style of prayer as fruitful as I have. Hopefully in the not to distant future I will have more of these guided mediations posted on my website. God bless and if you remember say a prayer for me!