Whispers of the Soul: Finding Serenity in Silence

A group of Christians were together and about to pray. The brother leading the prayer says, "Okay everyone, let's pray" and we all bowed our heads. Then, there was silence. It was the type of silence that stretches out so long that you peek to see if you missed something. Ha. After a long silence he began to pray. So what was this guy doing? It was the basic practice of being in silence before opening his mouth to God. How moving!  

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 Stand in Awe of God - Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.

Habakkuk 2:20 " But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
Zephaniah 1:7 "Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near."
Revelation 8:1 "When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."

Now, I often practice silence before praying too. I have even taken a day of silence from noise and my own voice. I grew tremendously and, as I write this, I'm thinking it's time to have another day of silence to seek a deeper connection with God.

"Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditations..." ~ Jean Arp

The practice of silence strongly contrasts with our daily lives but if you think this is impossible to do in your busy life, then consider people like Anne D. LeClair. Even as a wife, mom, and career writer, she doesn't speak on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of a month. She carries a sign so that people know why she isn't responding while others wear buttons that read, "In silence today." It's not impossible. I've done it too! I read a quote that said, "Do not speak unless you can improve the silence" and I was rallied. The practice of silence is interesting and humbling so I hope you will examine it. :)

PRACTICALS:

• Next time you pray consider those scriptures above before you just plow along.
• Set up a few hours to practice being silent. Hey, why not even try a whole day? :D