We are a fearfully and wonderfully made creation. That creation is centered on connection and growth in all areas of what we call life. This connection and growth has quite a lot to do with listening, and the culture that we live in asks you to listen to everything and then take that information and share it with the people that we are surrounded by. When you break that combination down..... NOISE NOISE NOISE. Noise we listen to, noise we speak, noise we love, noise we hate. This week we are focused on SILENCE and how using it can enhance your prayer life.
When people picture prayer, the first thing they think is them speaking to God about their life, but if we are honest that is not much of a conversation. Our culture has very little true silence between radio, TV, phones, music, podcasts, streaming, and so many other things we rarely just sit in silence. We see that it is in stillness that God speaks the clearest through multiple passages in scripture, one of the more well known passages is in 1 Kings 19:12-13.
“Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it,he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold,there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?
We want you to be able to hear God speak as you pray to him.... but you have to know where to listen. You will struggle to hear the wispier with the TV on and the computer in front of you. The only way this is going to work for your relationship with God is if you intentionally go out of your way to be intentional with your conversation with God. Here are some practical ways to practice Silence this week.
1) Find an easily accessible location you can be silent- find a place where yu can be silent on a daily basis (I do this in my basement), it could be your pourch, or the bathroom, or maybe just your bedroom.
2) Pick a time where you can be silent- What is the time of day that you are able to intentionally listen to nothing EXCEPT the whisper of God (my personal time verities because of my Son), maybe its early in the morning, maybe its right before bed, maybe its after your devotion time. See if you can't find one time..... and then stick with it.
3) Sit in silence- Start your time by briefly asking God to speak to you. Then spend at least 5 minutes just listening to nothing. keep a journal or a piece of paper by your side with a pen or pencil. As thoughts and feelings rush past you, write them down. Dont turn on music, dont speak, just listen to what God speaks to your heart.
4) share as you were designed to share- as we do with anything else that we listen to, we want to share it. What did God say? share it! How did this make you feel? Share it! That's what being a disciple is all about!
Do this every day this week and see what it does for your prayer life, I promise that in doing this your prayer life will be changed. The most important thing is this is to realize that God wants to speak to you!
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