“no one can say, ‘Lord Jesus’, unless in [the power of the] Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3 Darby).
In the Christian tradition, meditation is reserved for reflective thinking. It is the pondering over the scriptures, God, or some work of God. What Buddhists call meditation, Christians call recollection.
In St. Teresa of Avila’s description, “It is called the prayer of recollection because the soul collects together all its faculties and enters within itself to be with its God.” Recollection is about becoming concentration or one pointed in attention. It is the practice of mindfulness that leads to focus.
I recommend a 20-minute recollection session. This is kind of like a meditation session. Except we’re using the Christian terminology. Sit down, relax, with your back straight. Take a deep breath, and let everything fall away.
Because the breathing will be much deeper and shallower, I don’t recommend using the full Jesus prayer, ” Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Only use the beginning two words, “Lord Jesus.”
When you breathe in, pray mentally, “Lord,” and when you breathe out, pray mentally, “Jesus.” Don’t picture anything. Don’t try to not think Rather just focus your attention on the prayer and the feeling of your breath entering and exiting your nose.
I recommend getting a very simple meditation timer for your phone. Don’t get one with a social aspect. You’re not here to socialize but recollect. You can also use a kitchen timer.
Keep your sessions at 20 minutes. Don’t expand your time, rather add to your sessions. Start with once a day, then go to twice a day, even go to three times a day. And if you’re consistent with these, then expand the time to 25 or 30 minutes. I don’t recommend more than 45 minutes for a session.