“It may be hard to convince yourself of the value of interior silence. But if you are going to practice centering prayer, the only way to do it is to ignore every thought. Let it be a time of interior silence and nothing else. If God wants to speak to you in successive words, let God do so during the other twenty-three hours of the day. God will be more pleased that you preferred to listen to His silence.”
Excerpt from
Open Mind, Open Heart
Thomas Keating