How to do silent prayer?

Teresa of Avila, answered from the texts and cited to the page.

Teresa of Avila answers

Begin by knowing that there are two silences, and they must not be confused. One we can seek for ourselves, with God's grace, and the other He alone gives. The first is not yet the silence of the faculties. It is a recollection of the powers within the soul itself, and anyone can desire and obtain it.1 Many books advise us to put aside other thoughts in order to approach God, who dwells in our souls, and even in the midst of our occupations to withdraw into ourselves for a moment.

All I ask is that you realise to Whom you are speaking, and stay in His presence, and not turn your back on Him, as we do when we talk to God with our thoughts running after a thousand vanities.2 That is the whole of the work: to enter, and to remain. For there are souls who live in the courtyard of the castle, where the sentinels stand, and never care to go further or to learn who dwells in that delightful place.3

The door by which you enter is prayer, and if you neither consider to Whom you speak, nor what you ask, nor who you are who dare to speak to Him, I do not call it prayer, however many words your lips may utter.4 So do not make a struggle of it. Shut the door against the world, go into that heaven within, and keep company with your Spouse, with nothing to intrude on the solitude of the two of you.5

You do not need to compose fine phrases. The understanding may bestir itself to arrange its thanksgiving, but the will, in peace, not daring to lift its eyes with the publican, perhaps makes a better act than all the tropes of rhetoric.6 The second silence is not yours to produce. The prayer of quiet is a supernatural state to which no effort of our own can raise us; our Lord gives the soul peace by His presence, as He did to Simeon, and the faculties are calmed.7

If you try to push yourself on into this quiet by your own endeavours, nothing comes of it. It is quickly over and aridity is the result.8 So the rule is plain: do the first, wait for the second, and never counterfeit it. When He does give it, let the soul repose in its rest and let learning be set aside for the time. This is not the hour for discussing, but for presenting ourselves in simplicity before God, who will have us make ourselves as fools in His presence, since we are what we are.9

And do not abandon vocal or mental prayer altogether, if you wish or are able to use them; only know that when the quiet is deep, speaking becomes difficult and can be done only with pain.10 You will know the true from the false by what it leaves behind. If it comes from Satan, it leaves trouble, scant humility, and no steadiness in the truth.11

If your mind wanders in all this, as mine did for years, do not be dismayed. Go on seeking, with a good heart, and let the answer to His touches be a simple act of love or the words of Saint Paul: Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?12

Sources

  1. I say 'The soul seeks,' because you must understand that this is not a supernatural state, but something which, with the grace of God, we can desire and obtain for ourselves.
    The Way of Perfection
  2. All I desire is, that we should realise to Whom our prayers are addressed, and should remain in His presence and not turn our back on Him, as we appear to do if, while we are speaking to God, we occupy our thoughts with a thousand vanities.
    The Way of Perfection
  3. many souls live in the courtyard of the building where the sentinels stand, neither caring to enter farther, nor to know who dwells in that most delightful place
    The Interior Castle, or The Mansions
  4. If a person neither considers to Whom he is addressing himself, what he asks, nor what he is who ventures to speak to God, although his lips may utter many words, I do not call it prayer.
    The Interior Castle, or The Mansions
  5. with nothing to intrude on the solitude of itself and its Spouse, whenever it seeks to retire within itself with its God into this 'heaven,' shutting the door against all the world.
    The Way of Perfection
  6. the will, in peace, not daring to lift up its eyes with the publican, makes perhaps a better act of thanksgiving than the understanding, with all the tropes of its rhetoric.
    The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
  7. This prayer is a supernatural state to which no effort of our own can raise us, because here the soul rests in peace — or rather, our Lord gives it peace by His presence, as He did to the just man, Simeon.
    The Way of Perfection
  8. we seek of ourselves, as I said before, to pass onwards to this quiet of the will. Then, no effect whatever is produced; it is quickly over, and aridity is the result.
    The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
  9. This is not the time for discussing, but for understanding plainly what we are, and presenting ourselves in simplicity before God, who will have the soul make itself as a fool--as, indeed, it is--in His presence
    The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
  10. mental prayer is not to be abandoned altogether now, nor even vocal prayer, if at any time we wish, or can, to make use of either of them; for if the state of quiet be profound, it becomes difficult to speak, and it can be done only with great pain.
    The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
  11. If it comes from Satan, the practised soul, in my opinion, will detect it, because it leaves trouble behind, and scant humility and poor dispositions for those effects which are wrought if it comes from God
    The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
  12. it is very easy, as the reply should be entirely interior, to respond by an act of love or to ask, with Saint Paul: 'Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?'
    The Interior Castle, or The Mansions