Is Centering Prayer Supposed to Make Us Feel Better
New research on prayer spiritual experience and communion with God
Centering Prayer
Many people begin Centering Prayer hoping it will quiet their minds, reduce their anxiety, or help them feel more peaceful. These are understandable desires. Yet Centering Prayer was never intended primarily as a relaxation technique. Its deeper purpose is to help us consent to God's presence and action within us.
A recent study offers an interesting perspective on this distinction.
What the Researchers Studied
Researchers recruited 702 self-identified Christians and assigned them to one of three practices:
· Traditional Centering Prayer using explicitly Christian language and a sacred word
· A similar centering practice presented without religious language
· Daily reflection and journaling without a meditation practice
Participants practiced for 20 minutes each day over four weeks. Researchers then measured flourishing, emotional well-being, health behaviors, spiritual experiences, mystical experiences, and awe.^1
The researchers expected the explicitly Christian form of Centering Prayer to produce greater overall well-being. That expectation was not confirmed.
All three groups experienced some improvement in well-being, but Centering Prayer did not produce significantly greater flourishing than the other practices.
At first, this finding may sound disappointing. But another result deserves careful attention.
Compared with ordinary reflection, those practicing the explicitly Christian form reported more frequent spiritual and mystical experiences. Increased awe was also found within the Christian-practice group.
The study therefore suggests that Centering Prayer's distinctive value may not be adequately measured by asking whether it simply makes people happier, calmer, or more productive.
Its fruit may be more deeply spiritual.
Prayer Is Not a Self Improvement Technique
Our culture teaches us to evaluate almost everything by results:
· Did it reduce my stress
· Did it improve my mood
· Did it make me more productive
· Did I feel something unusual
We can unknowingly bring this same attitude into prayer. We begin measuring the prayer period by how peaceful, focused, or spiritually uplifted we felt.
But Centering Prayer invites us into a different relationship with God.
The sacred word is not a tool for producing a particular state of consciousness. It is a simple symbol of our intention to consent to God's presence and action within us. When thoughts, memories, feelings, or bodily sensations capture our attention, we return ever so gently to that intention.^2
The return itself becomes an act of love.
We are not trying to make something happen. We are making ourselves available to God.
“Be still, and know that I am God.”Psalm 46:10 NIV
Stillness does not guarantee that we will feel peaceful. Sometimes silence reveals restlessness, grief, fear, or desires we have been avoiding. At other times, prayer may seem uneventful.
The absence of a noticeable experience does not mean that nothing is happening.
The Difference Between Wellness and Transformation
Stress reduction may accompany contemplative prayer, but it is not its final purpose.
Centering Prayer is concerned with transformation: gradually loosening our attachment to the false self and deepening our willingness to live from our true identity in God. This work often happens beneath conscious awareness.
Thomas Keating described this process as Divine Therapy. In silence, God gently brings our hidden motivations, emotional wounds, and habitual defenses into the light of divine love.
That process may sometimes feel peaceful. At other times, it may feel uncomfortable or obscure.
The important question is therefore not merely:
Did this prayer make me feel better
A more contemplative question is:
Am I becoming more willing to consent to God
The fruit of prayer is ultimately revealed in daily life:
· Greater patience with others
· Less need to control every outcome
· Increased compassion
· Greater freedom from compulsive reactions
· A growing capacity to remain present to suffering
· Deeper trust in God when answers do not come
These changes may be gradual and difficult to measure, but they reflect the movement from prayer as an activity to prayer as a relationship.
Receiving the Study Carefully
The researchers acknowledged several limitations. Because the study was conducted online, they could not fully verify whether everyone completed the assigned practice. The reflection group also journaled extensively, which may itself have improved well-being. In addition, the researchers noted that standard measurements of flourishing may not capture the specifically spiritual effects of contemplative practice.^1
The study does not prove that Centering Prayer produces mystical experiences. Nor should mystical experiences become the goal of the practice.
Instead, the findings remind us that spiritual practices should not be judged only by psychological outcomes. A practice centered upon relationship with God may shape people in ways that ordinary measurements cannot fully describe.
A Practice for the Coming Week
For one week, enter your regular period of Centering Prayer without asking it to produce a particular feeling.
Before beginning, quietly pray:
“Lord, I consent to Your presence and action within me.”Prayer of consent
When you notice that you have become engaged with a thought, feeling, memory, or expectation, return gently to your sacred word.
At the end of the prayer period, remain silent for another minute or two. Then carry this question into the day:
“How is God inviting me to express the consent of my prayer through love?”Daily reflection
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you.”John 15:4 NIV
Centering Prayer is one way of practicing that remaining. Its purpose is not simply to help us feel better. It is to open us more completely to the transforming presence of God.
Questions for Reflection
1. Do I evaluate prayer primarily by how it makes me feel?
2. What expectations do I need to release when I enter silence?
3. Where might the fruit of prayer already be appearing in my relationships and daily conduct?
Footnotes
^1 Julia S. Rohde et al., Centering and Flourishing An Online Intervention Study Assessing the Effects of a Christian Contemplative Practice on Stress Reduction and Human Flourishing, BMC Psychology 12, no. 373 (2024). See especially the abstract, pp. 1-3, and the discussion and conclusions, pp. 12-15.
^2 Contemplative Outreach, The Method of Centering Prayer, especially the four guidelines describing the sacred word as a symbol of one's intention to consent to God's presence and action within.
Meta description: Centering Prayer is more than stress relief. New research suggests its distinctive fruit may be deeper spiritual awareness, consent, and a loving communion with God.
Comments