Caution in God’s Presence
Open Your Bible
Ecclesiastes 5:1-20, 1 Samuel 15:22, Luke 12:22-34
BY Sharon Hodde Miller
What does your prayer life look like in this season of life? How, specifically, do you pray each day?
As a mom with small kids and a church to help lead, I will confess that my prayer life is often rushed. I pray throughout the day, squeezing it in when I can. I pray when I wake up, I pray when I am driving, I pray at meals, I pray when someone comes to mind, and I pray as I fall asleep. Because of this rhythm, my prayer life is often hurried. And when I do pray, I am doing the majority of the talking.
This is how many of us pray, especially in hectic seasons of life. God functions as a touchstone throughout our schedule, and there is some good in this practice. It reminds us of the ever-present help we have in Him. However, I have recently become convicted that this practice lacks something important: listening.
I recently heard a podcast describe the strange training regimen of NASA astronauts preparing for space. Because outer space is absolutely silent to a degree that we never experience on earth, astronauts must learn to adjust to it. They do this by spending time in a noiseless chamber where the silence is profound. In fact, the absence of noise is so absolute that you can hear the sound of your own body and its most basic, typically imperceivable, inner workings: the sound of your own breathing, or your heart beating and pumping blood to the rest of your body, the sound of skin sliding over sinew, of bones rubbing against one another—which is about when astronauts start hearing things that aren’t actually there.
This description is almost unsettling to read, but it helps us to grasp the loud volume of our everyday lives. We live in a world where silence, true silence, is difficult to come by. But as these astronauts have discovered, it is only through silence that we can hear things we’ve never heard before.
For many of us, silence is the missing ingredient from our prayer lives. We are unable to hear from God because we haven’t created the environment for it. This is what the author of Ecclesiastes is saying: He counsels, “Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). This is an invitation to turn our prayer life on its head by listening more to what God has to say, rather than solely bringing petitions and requests before Him.
This can be a challenge, but it is also a word of grace and good news to any of us who do not know what to pray, or those of us who feel pressure to pray in a certain manner. Instead, it reminds us that prayer is not simply about us speaking to God, but God speaking to us. If we will only make the space to listen.
74 thoughts on "Caution in God’s Presence"
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Wow, this is a really good reminder. I needed this.
I just wanted to say thank you to the entire SRT community for your comments and sharing stories/insights. It’s such a joy to read and while I don’t often comment, I love reading through each and every comment because there is so much thought, love and care put into each one. Thank you.
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Wow. This was exactly what I needed to read today. I do need to be more silent and just listen.
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John Wesley’s mother knew the power of listening to God. Her children knew when she was in her rocking chair Under her apron That she was not to be disturbed as she was busy listening to God. What a great thing to teach her children. Maybe I should try if with my husband who always seems to interrupt my prayer time. :)
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What a good remind about listening? And letting our words be few…our society runs on noise and chaos! And striving to get something and/ or striving to be something to the point, we can’t even hear him. Absolutely we need to learn to listen in the silence. Amen
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❤️ Such a great example with long distance phone calls! I remember my dad calling my brother every night at 11:30 when he had moved to another time zone for a brief period. They planned the time to make sure they reached each other. And to make sure they made the most of their time together in conversation. It makes my heart smile remembering my daddy staying up to speak to his son. What a vision of God who is “up” all the time waiting to hear from us and to speak to us.
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Prayer….this seems to be timely for me. During Covid, I have thought more about my prayer life. I have read 2 books about prayer that have been wonderful. And opened my eyes. I have begun following a wonderful, Godly lady, Kaylene Yoder, who posts scriptural prayers as well. Even now, reading my Bible and the devotion and comments, (that I love dearly) I find myself not spending time in prayer. This is my struggle. I mean, I pray. And I write my prayers out, but I am not spending time meditating and listening to the Lord. I am, like many of you, just talking. Hearing my words. So, Taylor, I want to take that challenge as well. I will meditate or try for silence for 10 minutes each day. Asking our God to quiet my mind to let me hear Him. I love this! Thank you for sharing!
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I use an app called “Encountering Peace” which is a 15 minute guided meditation. It uses one verse for the day. I find it very helpful to get into a place of meditation. It takes me awhile to still my mind and this helps. Sometimes I pause it and just sit in silence with my Lord. Sometimes I go all of the way through the 15 minutes. The time goes so quickly. I just thought I would share what works for me these days.
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Am gonna give that app a try!! Thanks for sharing
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Bessie, I’m trying to find this app and it’s nowhere in Apple:) Is there a different name by chance?
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It’s a website…not an app.
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Mom to many, I am the same way! My mind is always going off, I have to rope it back in and say hey, stop this! Glad I am not alone!
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