"Be Still and know that I am God....." Psalm 46:10
THE more I take time to meditate and reflect on it, the more I become dogmatic that, indeed, silence is a friend of God. I also realize that silence itself needs to be quantified; silence can be a weapon of defiance too.
Every married couple knows that to withdraw into silence somehow promotes a little peace rather than being engaged in intense argument. Consider the other side of silence, this, too, can be an effective weapon that tortures the enemy from within.
The stillness referred to in Psalm 46:10 is not a weapon of defiance but a dynamic engagement to surrender into a holy stillness which defies the flesh and intensifies sensitivity of the spirit to hear God. This is the kind of silence that collaborates with God and enriches friendship with the Almighty!
This is the power of silent prayer.
Here, we see an obvious subtraction of semantics in heart and in the mouth and a holy struggle to give space to God's still, small voice to be heard. This is not an instant thing. This requires a spiritual discipline that obviously needs God's grace to practice. For all you know, it is hard to recognize which is fake and authentic.
I remember my daughter, Shekinah, telling our worship minister, Pastor Frits Melody, that the flowers displayed in the streets are either fake, or imitations. Pastor Frits said, “I agree.” I asked both of them... “How sure are you? Are you now flower experts?” My daughter said something that made me reflect even more. She said "The color is too bright, it is too perfect. Real flowers don't look too bright". Silently, daddy got a timely sermon from my daughter. Such a simple and ordinary conversation about fake and true flowers gave birth to an insight I really needed to see.
The quest for God in prayer and the life of a follower of Christ shines but not too brightly... grace is modeled amidst the scenes of hard realities, painful struggles and shattered good dreams... because it is not fake! In line with this thought, I remembered a quote from Father Brennan Manning that says "The problem with projecting the perfect image, however, is that it creates more problems than it solves. First, it is simply not true non-of us is always joyful, unruffled, and in command.
Second, projecting the flawless distances us from other people who conclude we would not understand them. Thirdly, even if we could live a life free of risks and mistakes, it would be a shallow existence. Mature Christians are those who have failed and learned to live gracefully with their failure"
The power of silence in prayer does not guarantee any magical effect or claims to have the franchise of God's blessings... rather, it equips us to see the not-so-bright colors of authentic spiritual journeys where struggles are uncensored, where humanity is raw, where desire for God is greater than addiction to benefits, where God is clearly seen above His gifts. At this point, you can slowly make a choice to engage God via silence. Try it! Resist editing, allowing thoughts to flow, do not sanitize issues, and just listen. Let those tears flow, keep listening.
The first few minutes will be a terrible torture; silence assaults our addiction to be heard. Do not give up, keep listening. Let the Lord expose the dirt, and let our Deliverer show the depth of our spiritual oppression so our silence is now finally broken into a sincere cry for deliverance.
Again, Father Brennan Manning wisely said these words of hope "Nothing inspires prayer than adversity, sorrow and humiliation. In these broken times we pray our best. We surrender our need for vindication and hand over the kingdom of self to the Father."
I hope after reading this insight, you will shake hands with silence... remembering well that stillness of the heart. Silence is a friend of God, make it yours too.
