Within our small group, a number of us (in addition to praying the Church's Morning and Evening Prayers) practice Centering Prayer and make suggestions to one another that will help us sit quietly before God in patient silence. Yesterday a friend sent me this quotation from Timothy Jones' The Art of Prayer: A Simple Guide (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997); it's worth sharing.

I also try to remember that much of advance in prayer has to do with waiting. Waiting is not the same as being passive. It is not doing nothing. It is readying ourselves for something more. "Be still before theLord and wait patiently for him," Psalm 37 tells us. Sometimes we need to say to ourselves: "Don't just do something; sit there." Our goal in prayer is not to make things happen on our timetable; it is to allow God to come to us. We cannot orchestrate his coming any more than we can force someone to love us. Gentle awareness of God comes as a mutual presence between two parties who come in loving expectation. My stillness in God's presence is away to be ready. (50-51)