The center of the soul has an unrestrainable need which demands satisfaction. In reality, God alone can answer this need and the only solution is to immediately take the road leading to Him. The soul must converse with someone other than itself. Why? Because it is not its own last end; because its end is the living God, and it cannot rest entirely except in Him.
Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
Whether we realize it or not, we are in a continual conversation. If we’re not talking to other people, we are in mental dialogue with ourselves.
This inner dialogue becomes part of the constant stream of daily thoughts in our conscious awareness. From the time we rouse ourselves from sleep in the morning to the moment we fade into our dreams at night, we are taking part in this inner conversation. We might not be paying attention to it, but we should be: after all, it’s our interior life.
Although I have been familiar with the term for a while, I didn’t always know that our “interior life” includes anything occupying our mind. I associated it only with spiritual thoughts, ideas, or convictions and not with…well, everything else. Yet our interior life is truly all that goes on in the interior and not the exterior. When we are not in dialogue with others, we are often dialoguing with ourselves (perhaps monologuing is the more apt term to use). If this is true, then it is worth considering what this dialogue is about.
In his book The Three Ages of the Interior Life (a classic that is, unfortunately, out of print) Dominican theologian Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange explains how our inner conversations can make a transformational difference in our life, depending on whether we have them with ourselves or with God:
As everyone can easily understand, the interior life is an elevated form of intimate conversation which everyone has with themselves as soon as they are alone, even amongst the noise of a great city. From the moment a man ceases to converse with others, he begins to converse with himself about what preoccupies him the most.
Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange goes on to say that we tend to be better acquainted with the part of the soul that we have in common with animals (rather than the higher part that we have in common with the angels), which means that our thoughts often go to those sensory-related joys and sorrows: what the weather is like, whether we are hungry, whether we feel well or are suffering from some ailment.
We then seek more the inferior pleasures of life rather than the higher supernatural goods.
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange
The good news is that God created us with a longing to converse with Him. That means our thoughts can be easily nudged so that they turn towards God. The following are six easy ways to do this, and in the process, strengthen our interior life.
1. Pay attention to what occupies your mind.
Simply acknowledging that we have an interior life and that we must pay attention to it is a first step in directing our thoughts, ideas, and inner conversations back to God when they go astray. As soon as I discovered that all my thoughts were part of my interior life, I began to take notice of what I was thinking about. I’ve tried to be more intentional about this, and as often as I can remember, to acknowledge my inner dialogues. This is not as difficult as I imagined it might be. The more I do it, the easier it is to do. I’ve realized that my thoughts can become prayers very easily, if I simply redirect focus to God in the moment.
2. Invite God into every conversation—whether with others or with yourself.
I am grateful to have a few friends who are holy people that I can rely on for encouragement and spiritual guidance. One of my friends once told me something that I never forgot because, while simple, it had a profound effect on my interior life. She reminded me that God sees everything I do; knows everything I think; and understands everything I feel. Nothing is hidden from Him—not even the conversations I have with myself. He knows each one of them. She suggested I “invite” God to be a part of every conversation.
Each morning, as a part of her own morning offering, my friend asks God to be with her in all the thoughts she will have throughout the day. This little habit has greatly impacted her interior life over the years because, she says, there is no part of her life in which God is left out. She knows that even when she’s irritated, angry, or jealous, God is there. Knowing this helps her to regularly redirect herself and her interior thoughts.
3. Remind yourself of God’s presence with a physical gesture.
“Often,” my friend says, “I will give a little nod to God to let Him know that I’m aware of His Presence—sometimes I just sigh internally, showing I am grateful to have Him by my side.”
Ever since she told me this, I have tried to incorporate little “nods” to God in my interior life. I wish this meant that I never have ugly thoughts, but that isn’t true. Still, this little habit helps me to recognize what is going on in my heart and reminds me to appeal to God for help. Sometimes I see how poorly I am behaving in the moment. Other times, when the thoughts I feel are valid or when someone is truly provoking me, the “nod” becomes more like a sigh and an offering to God. My friend is right: it is consoling to know He is there.
4. Remember your arrow prayers.
“Arrow” prayers are helpful spiritual tools. These are short prayers that only take a few seconds to pray and are “shot” up to God in a moment. They help penetrate darkness or fear and direct our thoughts quickly to God, especially when we feel particularly weak, vulnerable, or scared. The devil hates these kinds of prayers because they reveal the faith and hope of the one praying them. The Jesus Prayer (“Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”) or any short ejaculation such as “Jesus, I trust in You” or “Thy Grace is sufficient” can be raised up to God and serve as a reminder to refocus on Him in the present moment.
Memorizing a few short prayers and Psalms has helped me quickly turn to God at a moment’s notice.
The following are some other arrow prayers that are easy to memorize:
“For love of You, with all my heart I pardon (the person…) who is the cause of my suffering.”
“My God, You are my all!”
“Lord, help my conversation!”
“I surrender myself to Your Holy Will.”
5. Learn to be comfortable with silence.
God created your soul silent and keeps it inviolate at baptism. He filled it with Himself, nothing other than Himself. It is later, little by little, that the world bursts in. Noise invades, covering the soft voice of God. Since then, the racket amplifies itself. Return to your baptismal silence, my brother!
An anonymous Carthusian monk, The Doors of Silence
Listening to the silent voice of God communicating with us in the depths of our souls is a normal (and critical!) part of the Christian life. This kind of interior silence is how we are meant to nurture our relationship with God. Sadly, this is not the experience of many Christians. Especially today, it is difficult to hear God in the midst of the noise of the world.
In order to hear God, it is not enough to have His presence in our souls; we must eliminate the noise in our lives that competes with His voice.
This one is difficult for me. But efforts at recognizing moments when I can be quiet—even within my heart—have helped to expand my comfort with silence. I find that the more I practice facilitating silence, the more I long for it. Simple questions we can ask ourselves can help: Do I phone a friend when I can spend some time in prayer? Do I speak when words are unnecessary? Do I fill in any opportunity for quiet with noise? Do I deliberately seek out silence?
If you look in murky and turbulent waters, you cannot see the reflection of your face. If you want to see the face of Christ, stop and collect your thoughts in silence, and close the door of your soul to the noise of external things.
St. Anthony of Padua
6. Learn the discipline of watchfulness.
The more I discover about the interior life, the more I realize that I must learn to protect my heart and my soul.
But how do we do this? To “protect” something means to stay vigilant over it. Protecting or guarding our hearts requires us to be watchful of what occurs within them and the temptations that constantly challenge us. Just as our physical eyes observe the world around us, the “eyes” of our mind must stay alert to what occurs within our inner life.
The Church Fathers taught us that we guard our heart by placing our intellect as a watchman over it. St. John Climacus likened this to climbing a watchtower for a better vantage point in order to observe what’s happening below, and I love this beautiful image:
Ascend into a watchtower—if you know how to—and observe how and when and whence, and in what numbers and what form, the robbers try to break in and steal your grapes. When the watchman grows weary he stands up and prays; then he sits down again and manfully resumes the same task.
St. John Climacus
It is not difficult to see how this discipline of watchfulness helps us discover the hidden motives behind our thoughts, words, and behavior in the light of God’s truth. Through this process, we can begin to understand ourselves better.
When the inner watchfulness of the intellect turns its attention to the heart, a person becomes capable of knowing himself or herself better. The intellect, directed to the heart, becomes liberated from flawed intentions and thoughts.
Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church (as referenced in the Good Catholic series, School of Prayer)
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Internally watchful persons can “see” themselves in the light of God’s grace and discover what is happening within the world of their interior self. They discover the strong and weak aspects of their character, and their capabilities and talents; they begin to perceive their secret inclinations and aspirations.
We must be watchful of the “robbers” too—the devil and his minions—who tend to exploit the chinks in our watchtower. Scripture reminds us:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8
It is good to remember that the devil has no real control over our thoughts. He can present ideas or temptations to us in an attempt to influence our thoughts, but we are always free to reject him. We are the gatekeepers of our thoughts.
It is also helpful to know that God longs for us to turn to Him with everything. As mentioned earlier, a simple acknowledgment of this goes a long way. Let us ask Our Lord to help us pay attention to what is going on in the interior of our hearts and minds. Let us pray for guidance and watchfulness so that we might see ourselves in the light of God’s grace and grow closer to Him.
To learn more about our interior life and how to pay closer attention to it, discover our Good Catholic series School of Prayer.
