I remember many years ago reading C. S. Lewis and being struck by an image of prayer:

If you think of the Father as something ‘out there’, in front of you, and of the Son as someone standing at your side, helping you to pray, trying to turn you into another son, then you have to think of the third Person as something inside you, or behind you.

At first, it’s interesting that Jesus is right there beside us. That’s just the natural way of Christian prayer, prayer in Christ.

After some time and some experience of praying as we go through the world day by day, we become more and more conscious that Jesus is right there beside everyone, encouraging them to pray and helping them in his own humanity, placing his hand comfortingly on their shoulder, always, everywhere.

This is when contemplation in the world comes to the forefront: when we begin to see Jesus in, behind, or beside those we meet, however broken, wounded, or unappealing they may be; however busy or recollected they are; even however sinful they appear, though we may not judge. He’s there. To see him there, to know by some secret intuition that he is there, is the heart of the contemplative life immersed in the world.

It takes some time, some effort, some practice, some struggles… Eventually it clicks.