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Silence in Prayer

silence

Have you ever noticed how we have an aversion to silence?  We sit trying to meditate and pray. But the silence of the moment quickly invades our space in a way that overwhelms our soul.  Immediately we reach for the nearest source of noise and turn it on and turn it up so we can cancel out and overcome the silence.  Admit it, we hate silence.  It is such an enemy to us we keep the TV on in the background and worry if we think our children are “too quiet.”  We are accustomed to noise and conditioned to clamor for any sound at all.  We can’t stand silence.

I have found this to be especially true in prayer.  Most of us find it hard to keep silent in prayer.  We immediately jump into our prayer with request after request.  Instead, slow down and add these two practices to your prayer life and you will pray with power and confidence.

The first practice is silence.  We are commanded to pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18).  Could it be mos

t of us pray so little in the Spirit because we pray too much with our own words, our own strength and never give the Spirit an opportunity to pray? In Romans, Paul tells us “we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes” (Romans 8:26).  What would happen if we began praying in silence while begging the Spirit to intercede for us?  Ask Him to pray the will of the Father. After you ask, sit in meditative silence. Could this be part of what the Psalmist meant in Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know I am God?”  I think one of the keys to praying in the Spirit is silence before God and allowing the Spirit to pray.

Before we proceed, consider two important things:

  1. We don’t always know the will of God. Case in point. A missionary is going to the 10/40 corridor (https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window) to be a witness for God.  What is the Father’s will?  What if it’s martyrdom?  We always pray for safety for our missionaries (I do too).  How often do you see the early church pray for safety?  I’m sure they did, but their focus was boldness to speak the Gospel fervently and with great power.  As you pray for missionaries, begin with silence.  Ask God’s Spirit to intercede.  Then pray for all the “normal” things we pray.  But give time for the Spirit to intercede.
  2. The Spirit always knows the Father’s will. Who would you rather have interceded for you? A person who could only know the will of the Father partially, or fully?

Let’s continue.  Silence is not only needed in prayer; it allows you to implement the second strategy for powerful prayer: Listening.  Richard Foster has stated well, “Though silence sometimes involves the absence of speech, it always involves the act of listening” (Celebration of Discipline page 86). How can you hear a Word from God much less understand Him if you are always talking during prayer?  Jesus warns us not to use too many words in prayer (Matthew 6:7).  One of the greatest virtues in prayer is listening in silence.

Two practices to implement in the closet of your prayer life are the art of silence and listening.  To implement these practices, you will have to practice the discipline of solitude.  You must be willing to be alone.  When you are away from the everyday distractions and as you start your time of prayer and fellowship with the Father, begin on your knees in silence.  Give the Spirit of God a chance to pray and then listen. You will know when it is time for you to speak.  It is then when you begin to pray over your list with confidence that God hears your prayers and He can meet every request.

Get off alone; turn off Facebook and the TV.  Be quiet, listen, and then pray.

 

 

Monday Night Football

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My dad died on August 14th of this year.  There’s not a day I don’t think about him and miss him in some way. I have found it interesting the things that bring waves of grief.  It could be something as simple as reading a commentary he gave me or listening to an old phone message.  Today it’s Monday Night Football.

One of my early memories of my relationship with dad and football surrounds a Monday Night Football game many years ago. It had to be in the late 70s. We were big Houston Oilers football fans.  If my memory serves me correctly, Houston was playing the Miami Dolphins.  I had to go to bed with the game in the balance. I couldn’t believe I had to go to bed and I’m sure I threw a fit or two trying to stay up past my bedtime.  But to no avail. I had to go to bed and miss what I was sure to be a great game.  As it turns out, it was a classic game.  During the second half, my dad came into my room to wake me up and watch the rest of the game.  Earl Campbell had a career game and dad wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the epic comeback and win. I’m sure it would have to be one of the most famous MNF games ever, and I got to see the ending with my dad.  It was a good day. It’s a great memory.

Tonight the Denver Broncos play the Kansas City Chiefs.  Most of the time I would have called dad to see what he thought about the game.  We would both talk about how good Mahomes looks and would wonder together if Von Miller could do anything to slow him down.  He would probably say how crazy it would be to kick to Terek Hill and I would agree and say something about Denver better be smart enough to kick away from him.  I would say our only hope is how porous Kansas City’s defense is and dad would say something about how feeble Denver’s offense has been.  In a year like this one, we would not spark a lot of hope between the two of us. We wouldn’t talk long and would leave our conversation open to the possibility of a great Bronco win but also resigned to the fact that they would probably get beat by 30.  I would tell him about a bet I made with one of our high school kids, and he would laugh and tell me to send pictures when I had to pay up.  We would tell each other how much we loved each other and that we would talk after the game.  I am sure missing that phone call today.

My grief is a great reminder of how blessed I am and how much I love dad.  Grief is an indicator of love.  We never grieve what we don’t love.  The more one grieves, the more one loved.  Don’t despise grief.  Though extremely hard, embrace your grief as a gauge of God’s immense love for you.  I realize there are millions of people who would give anything to have a dad as great as mine for even a day. God gave me my dad for nearly 53 years.  I wish it would have been a few more years.  To know he’s with Christ and I’ll see him again is enough for me today.  I think that is part of what Paul means when tells us to grieve with hope (1 Thes 4:13).  I’ll miss him like crazy. Win or lose tonight, I’ll miss our phone conversations. Dad was starting to text.  It would have been fun to text during tonight’s game.

Grief is a process. But I sure don’t want to stop grieving dad.  It is a great reminder of how much he loved me, and how much I loved him, and even more of how exceedingly good and gracious God is to my family and me.  I’ll talk to you later, Dad.  Go Broncos!!