Fr. Richard Rohr elaborates on St. Paul’s instruction for praying contemplatively:
Paul says that you should “Pray with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond all knowledge, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). First, you must begin with the positive, with gratitude (which might take your whole prayer time. Second, you need to pray however long it takes you to get to a place beyond agitation, or to find “peace” (whether five minutes or five hours or five days). Third, note that he says this is a place beyond “knowledge,” beyond processing information or ideas. Fourthly, you must learn how to stand guard, which is what many call “creating the inner witness” or the witnessing presence that calmly watches your flow of thoughts (mind) and feelings (heart). Finally, you must know what the goal is: your egoic thoughts can actually be replaced with living inside the very mind of Christ (en Cristo). This is not self-generated knowing, but knowing by participation—consciousness itself (con-scire, to know with). This is major surgery, and Paul says it all in one condensed verse!
Paul then goes on to suggest that we fill our minds “with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good, everything that we love and honor, everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8) … If you don’t choose love and compassion, the human mind naturally goes in the other direction.