One of the greatest truths or discoveries about prayer is silence and waiting. In our present-day culture, we don’t like to do either one of these things, and yet when we learn to be silent before God and patient with God, waiting for Him, our lives change and we see what it means to be human.Silence and waiting have taught me that my life is always usable to God. My life hasn’t always been effective, for sure, but learning to love silence and patience with God has shown me that my life needs to be transparent and vulnerable. This is when I am very conscious of being an instrument in the hands of God, like clay in the hands of a potter, no matter what I do.
To be silent in the presence of God is to trust that God is acting, teaching, and using me — even when I do nothing or fail miserably. For me to learn to be silent in God’s presence means that I allow everything and everyone around me to develop and flourish without my pushing one single bit. To be silent in God’s presence slows me down until I am completely satisfied by His presence.
Silence and waiting enables me to realize, to remember, that God takes it from there, and that there is no longer any point or purpose in comparing who is better, right, higher, lower, or saved by anything they supposedly ever agreed to do. Silence and waiting in the presence of God is everything because I realize that I see myself only partially, in bits and pieces, sometimes coming into focus and other times unaware of who I am.
Silence and waiting in the presence of God is God’s invitation to filter the Light and the Love of God, which longs to shine through me — as me.
All that matters, then, is to be in His way — and to get out of His way.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“Be still, and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10.
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him” Psalm 62:5.
“It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” Lamentations 3:26.
“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” Exodus 14:14.
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