by Maggie Scheck Geene

Created on: March 13, 2007   Last Updated: May 13, 2007

Prayer by definition is making a connection with the divine. Prayer forms are as diverse as the people in the universe. Any prayer form that helps us to make a connection is a useful tool.

Some think that meditation has too much "new age" connotation to be of any use to the true Christian, but the roots of meditation are deeply planted in the Christian way of life. In fact one can look to Christ Himself as an example of meditative prayer forms. Christ's time in the desert, early in His earthly ministry was a time of meditative prayer. Also the experience on the Mountain of Transfiguration was a meditative prayer form for Jesus, as was the prayer in the garden before His arrest and trial.

After the time of Christ there are examples of early Christian communities who practiced forms of centered prayer (which is another name for meditative prayer form) Antony of Egypt who is an early Church Father practiced meditation as a prayer form.

To meditate simply means to clear your mind of distraction so that you can focus clearly on the one thing that is the Center of your prayer. In the case of Christian prayer the central focus of our prayer is God.

So, if a Christian chooses to use meditation techniques to help to make a stronger connection to God, there is nothing that is inherently wrong with that practice. If on the other hand a Christian finds that meditation isn't useful, then for that person it should be abandoned for a form that is of more use.

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