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Using silence

‘In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’ (Isaiah 30.15)

‘For God alone my soul waits in silence.’ (Psalm 62.1)

‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ (Mark 6.31)

There is much in Scripture about God coming to people in stillness. Our difficulty is that modern life tries to keep us constantly on the go, and we are in the habit of filling our airwaves with noise. We have to make a conscious effort to get away from life’s muzak and listen. When we do that, we discover another problem: we don’t always want to engage in stillness because we fear what we may discover about ourselves. We have to remember that God knows us in the depths of our being, and loves us as we are: ‘You are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you’ (Isaiah 43.4). That doesn’t mean that we don’t need to change, but that we don’t need to wait until we have before we can enjoy God’s company. If there are areas within ourselves which need to be dealt with, it may be wise to wait until we can work with a trusted guide.

Stillness and silence are states we have to learn to relax into, rather than screwing ourselves up to find them, and there are various techniques which may help:

 Find a place where you can be relaxed, yet alert. Some people find it helpful to have a particular place in house or garden which they regard as their prayer place.

 Decide how long you are going to spend in this way of prayer.

 Light a candle, play some music, use a relaxation exercise to help mind and body to settle.

 Read a short passage of Scripture, select a thought or phrase from it; or use a sentence from a hymn or a prayer. Repeat the phrase gently, in time with your breathing.

 Let yourself become still; let God hold you in love.

 When thoughts do wander, gently re-establish the phrase (or ‘rhythm prayer’ as some people call it) and allow yourself to become still again. Don’t worry if your thoughts wander off. We are usually not very good at concentrating in the normal course of events, and we don’t suddenly change when we decide to pray. Wandering thoughts are not something to feel guilty about.

 At the end of the allotted time, gently bring yourself back to awareness of what is around you. (You may need to set a timer or an alarm, but put it in another room, so that it doesn’t jolt you back into ordinariness.) Perhaps play some music again, to help you adjust.

 Say a brief prayer of thanksgiving for the opportunity to be still, and for God’s presence with you.

Don’t worry if nothing much seems to have happened. Prayer is God’s gift to us: what we have to do is open ourselves up to the possibility of receiving the gift, and leave the rest to God.

Disclosure

Prayer is like watching for the

Kingfisher. All you can do is

Be where he is likely to appear and

Wait.

Often, nothing much happens;

There is space, silence and

Expectancy.

No visible sign, only the

Knowledge that he’s been there

And may come again.

Seeing or not seeing cease to matter,

You have been prepared,

But sometimes, when you’ve almost

Stopped expecting it

A flash of brightness

Gives encouragement.3

Note

3 Watching for the Kingfisher, p. 31.