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Contemplative Prayer is a prayer of resting in God, of opening the heart, mind and soul to God, of relinquishing thoughts and personal agendas to God. 
Contemplative prayer is saying ‘yes’ to the indwelling Presence of God and surrendering to God’s transformation and healing within through the work of the Holy Spirit. It goes beyond words, thoughts and ideas to the movement and action of God deeper than thinking and reasoning. Contemplative prayer is a communicating with God according to God’s agenda and language rooted in stillness and silence. There is no greater security than opening ourselves to the Presence of the Living God. Contemplative prayer reconnects us with the very Source of life throughout every moment of our lives.
Until the 1600’s contemplative prayer was the foundation of Christian spirituality. After the Reformation this tradition was neglected, though kept alive in monastic communities and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Corinthians 2:9-10: No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him, but God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
Romans 8:26-27: We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Centering Prayer is a method of silent, meditative prayer that fosters a deeper relationship with God. It is an intentional surrendering to the Presence and transforming action of God within. A deeper relationship with God through this prayer, is made evident in one’s life by the manifestation of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. (love, peace, patience, kindness, joy, temperance, faithfulness, forbearance Gal 5:22)
Lectio Divina is an ancient method of praying with scripture.
It is Latin for divine reading. 
It was started in the early church and Christian desert communities. Lectio divina is a meditative method of reading scripture allowing the Word of God to enrich the soul, illumine the mind and awaken the heart with wisdom and understanding. (I have sought your face with all my heart. How I love your Word, I meditate on it all day long. Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Ps. 119: 58, 97, 105)
Prayer of Discernment is a way of meditatively reflecting on the content of one’s daily life to sense what activity, relationship, conversation, etc. may have drawn one toward the Presence of God (consolation) or away from the Presence of God (desolation). It is a time to reflect on the graces of the day and the movement of the Spirit.
Active Prayer is a short phrase one says silently throughout the day as a reminder of our total reliance on Christ. ‘Lord have mercy on me a sinner’ is an active prayer commonly used by Christians throughout church history.
Contemplation in action is a way of living in the world but not being attached to the world. It is living with a connection to and awareness of God, self and others that is often awakened and fostered by contemplative prayer. Jesus said ‘you have eyes but you do not see, ears but you do not hear’. As Christians we are called to be Christ in and to the world. What does this really mean? What does this look like? Contemplation in action is to hear, see, understand and live by the Spirit as Jesus did. Not being conformed to the world and so attached to our own interpretations, perceptions and assumptions, but to live the ‘Spirit awakened life’ through Christ in everything we do and everything we are. More simply put…contemplation in action is unconditional love in action.
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