What is the scriptural support for contemplative prayer?

I was reading this question: https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/14143/117426 . Contemplation is defined by [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemplation) as follows: > In a religious context, the practice of contemplation seeks a direct awareness of the divine which transcends the intellect, often in accordance with religious practices such as meditation or prayer. > > ### Christianity > > In Eastern Christianity, **contemplation (theoria) literally means to see** > **God or to have the Vision of God**. The state of beholding God, > or union with God, is known as theoria. The process of Theosis which > leads to that state of union with God known as theoria is practiced in > the ascetic tradition of Hesychasm. Hesychasm is to reconcile the > heart and the mind into one thing (see nous). > > Contemplation in Eastern Orthodoxy is expressed in degrees as those > covered in St John Climacus' Ladder of Divine Ascent. The process of > changing from the old man of sin into the newborn child of God and > into our true nature as good and divine is called Theosis. > > This is to say that once someone is in the presence of God, deified > with him, then they can begin to properly understand, and there > "contemplate" God. This form of contemplation is to have and pass > through an actual experience rather than a rational or reasoned > understanding of theory (see Gnosis). Whereas with rational thought > one uses logic to understand, one does the opposite with God (see also > Apophatic theology). > > The anonymously authored 14th century English contemplative work The > Cloud of Unknowing makes clear that its form of practice is not an act > of the intellect, but a kind of transcendent 'seeing,' beyond the > usual activities of the mind - "The first time you practice > contemplation, you'll experience a darkness, like a cloud of > unknowing. You won't know what this is... this darkness and this cloud > will always be between you and your God... they will always keep you > from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your > intellect and will block you from feeling Him fully in the sweetness > of love in your emotions. So be sure to make your home in this > darkness... We can't think our way to God... that's why I'm willing to > abandon everything I know, to love the one thing I cannot think. He > can be loved, but not thought." > > Within Western Christianity contemplation is often related to > mysticism as expressed in the works of mystical theologians such as > Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross as well as the writings of > Margery Kempe, Augustine Baker and Thomas Merton. > > Dom Cuthbert Butler notes that contemplation was the term used in the > Latin Church to refer to mysticism, and "'mysticism' is a quite modern > word". This [article](https://conversatio.org/being-with-god-the-practice-of-contemplative-prayer/) presents contemplative prayer as the fourth stage of the *Lectio divina*: > *Contemplatio* is prayer as being. In *contemplatio*, we rest in the presence of the One whose word and presence have invited us to transforming embrace. That word, having touched both our minds and our hearts, now leads us into quiet rest in the Beloved. This is a prayer of presence—the gift of consciousness that is transformed by and infused with God’s presence. It is prayer as being—a gift of being in and with God that allows all my doing to flow from this center. It is, as described by Thomas Keating, the movement from conversation to communion. GotQuestions features an [article](https://www.gotquestions.org/contemplative-prayer.html) on contemplative prayer that outright claims it has no biblical support whatsoever: > Contemplative prayer begins with “centering prayer,” a meditative practice where the practitioner focuses on a word and repeats that word over and over for the duration of the exercise. The purpose is to clear one’s mind of outside concerns so that God’s voice may be more easily heard. After the centering prayer, the practitioner is to sit still, listen for direct guidance from God, and feel His presence. > > **Although this might sound like an innocent exercise, this type of prayer has no scriptural support whatsoever. In fact, it is just the opposite of how prayer is defined in the Bible**. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6). “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:23-24). These verses and others clearly portray prayer as being comprehendible communication with God, not an esoteric, mystical meditation. Do Christian practitioners of contemplative prayer believe it is based on the Bible? If so, what is the scriptural support for contemplative prayer?