Surrender · “Let Go to Receive”
The Welcoming Prayer
To meet a difficult feeling by first fully welcoming it in the body — instead of fighting or fleeing it — and only then letting go of the deep desires for security, approval, and control that the feeling is gripping, so the charge dissolves on its own.
In 5 lines: When a hard feeling hits, drop into your body and find it as sensation. Say “Welcome, [fear/anger],” and stay with it — don’t fight it, don’t rush — until the resistance melts. Only then let go: of your desire for security, for approval, for control, and to change the situation. You’re releasing the grip, not ordering the feeling out — and its charge fades on its own. Return to the moment.
What it is
The Welcoming Prayer, taught widely by Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation, is a short practice for the moment a hard emotion grips you — anxiety, anger, hurt, craving.
Its counter-intuitive core: you do not fight the feeling or rush to release it; you first welcome it. You move attention into the body, locate the feeling as physical sensation, and stay with it — saying, gently, “Welcome, fear” / “Welcome, anger” — until the inner wall of resistance comes down on its own.
Rohr stresses that the real work is in this welcoming; people are tempted to jump to “letting go” too fast, which just becomes another way of pushing the feeling away. Only after the resistance softens do you let go — and specifically you let go of the three deep, instinctual programs the feeling is clutching: the desire for security/survival, the desire for esteem/affection, and the desire for power/control (plus the desire to change the situation).
It is surrender practiced not by suppression but through full acceptance. (The Inner Creates the Outer read inwardly: attention is turned toward the felt sensation, then the grip is released.)
The Method
As taught by Rohr/CAC (faithfully described, not reproduced):
- Focus and feel. When a strong emotion arises, drop your attention into your body. Notice where and how the feeling shows up as sensation — tightness, heat, ache. Bring full awareness to it “without trying to change it.”
- Welcome it. Stay with the sensation and gently say, “Welcome, [fear / anger / grief].” Offer it inner hospitality. Don’t analyze it, don’t fix it — just let it be fully here. Remain until the resistance to it begins to dissolve on its own. This is the main work — do not hurry past it.
- Let go — but only now. When you feel the inner fighting subside, begin the release, using the classic formula (from Mary Mrozowski): - “I let go of my desire for security and survival.” - “I let go of my desire for esteem and affection.” - “I let go of my desire for power and control.” - “I let go of my desire to change this situation/feeling.”
- Don’t release the feeling — release the grip. You are not commanding the emotion to leave; you are letting go of the attachment to the underlying desire it’s hooked into. The feeling’s charge then tends to dissipate by itself.
- Return to the moment. Come back to whatever you were doing, carrying the practice into ordinary life. Repeat whenever the feeling (or a new one) rises.
Source & Lineage
The Welcoming Prayer was developed by Mary Mrozowski (1925–1993) within the Centering Prayer movement founded by Thomas Keating, as the way to carry centering-prayer’s interior letting-go out into daily life and the body’s reactions; the “three desires” derive from Keating’s reading of the false-self “energy centers” (security, esteem, control).
Richard Rohr (b. 1943), Franciscan priest and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, has been among its most prominent teachers, embedding it in his contemplative, action-oriented spirituality.
It is distinct from, but a companion to, Centering Prayer.; cf.
Common refinements
Jumping straight to “let go.” The commonest error Rohr flags: rushing the release to get rid of the feeling. That’s avoidance in disguise. Linger in the welcoming until resistance genuinely softens.
- Welcoming as approval. Welcoming the feeling is not endorsing a harmful situation; you may still need to act, set a boundary, or leave. It addresses the inner reaction, not your outer responsibilities.
- Trying to force the feeling out. You release the grip on the desire, not the emotion itself. Commanding “go away” reinstates the fight.
- Over-analyzing. This is a felt, embodied practice, not a thinking exercise. Stay with sensation.