A group of us recently benefited from our retreat master’s overview of the phases of prayer.

Although we may have heard it before, it can help to review these basics and remind ourselves that there is prayer beyond whatever we are doing.

The first phase is vocal prayer, a kind of “us-to-God” way of praying.

This phase is for everyone at all times. It includes public prayer, such as Mass, as well as devotions and common prayer practices such as the rosary, stations of the cross and the Liturgy of the Hours. It includes petitions and thanksgiving — the kind of prayers that hopefully all of us pray.

We never abandon vocal prayer. Even the saints who had lofty, mystical experiences of God prayed vocal prayers at times when they were not uplifted beyond words to God.

A second phase is called discursive meditation.

This is a matter of thinking and talking things over with the Lord. When we read a few paragraphs from Scripture and a phrase or a thought or even just one word sort of leaps out at us, sounding like it is meant for us, we are experiencing a moment of discursive meditation.

This is an important type of prayer to develop into a life-giving habit. A regular 10-30 minute space where we settle in with the Bible or the work of a saint or of the Church can be a valuable means for spiritual growth. It’s often a matter of choosing a passage, reading it slowly, thinking about it, reading it a second and maybe a third time, and then pondering with God whatever stands out for us and why. A formal, step-by-step outline of the process is called Lectio Divina.

If the passage we are reading through is a scene from the Bible, we have the option of imagining ourselves somewhere in that scene, listening to Jesus or watching what He does. We can imagine walking up to Him and asking Him a question, or chatting with the apostles, or staying within the crowd, learning along with them what He is teaching.

Then, we can think about what we learned and talk with God about how it might apply in our lives.
A third phase of prayer is affective meditation.

Discursive meditation is more a matter of thinking, while affective meditation is more a matter of the heart. We come before God and speak from our hearts, trying to get our will in line with His will. Whenever our self-will rebels (and it will), it helps to remember that God’s will is perfect love — whatever He wills for us is best for us.

It may be helpful to ponder a crucifix or a holy painting or come before Christ in the Eucharist as we consider His sacrifice. As we try to absorb something of what He did, we can ask Him to help us grow in love and to show us where we are failing to love as we ought. We might resolve to work in a specific way to improve our love of God and others.

As you might suspect, affective meditation can flow from discursive meditation, or from vocal prayer (pondering and meditating on the sorrowful mysteries while praying the rosary, for example). It is useful to look at each separately, but in reality they can intermingle.

A fourth phase of prayer is contemplation. In this, God takes over and we are rendered passive for the moment or minutes when it happens. Since this is not something we can produce ourselves, we don’t need to worry about trying to make it happen. However, we can consider that the other three phases are ways for us to make the ‘soil’ of our hearts and minds and souls ready for God to plant, water and grow His seeds of contemplation. Our efforts to be in touch with God show Him we wish to be in relationship with Him.

Relationships require efforts and some amount of sacrifice. Our quest to grow in love of God and our neighbor should challenge us. Our hearts should grow bigger and become more generous, and that growth doesn’t happen easily.

But we can be sure that our prayers will bear fruit — and that all our efforts at vocal prayer, discursive meditation and affective meditation will be worth it.

God, you see, wants us to be in communion with Him.