Be Still…Be Quiet…Do We Allow Ourselves to Hear God?

Photo by Randy Pillion

Last night at the small group we attend, we were asked, “How do you hear God? How do you get quiet before the Lord?”

It got me thinking this morning…Do I really get quiet before the Lord? I am loud by nature. I tend to talk twice as much as others. As if all that isn't enough, I am usually very busy doing things that are often times anything but quiet. Being quiet has just never been easy for me.

I believe that I have gotten quiet before God…but those times of real solitude without distractions are few and far between. So, what do we need to do to find more of those periods of time? Let’s see:

Purposefully set aside time for just me and God.
Being deliberate will help to set the tone for our time with Him. If we do this, we will reap the benefit of our sacrifice. Yes it is a sacrifice – obedience to the call to be in the quietness of His presence demands the exclusion of everything else.

Create peace or find a place that is peaceful.
For some, finding a place of peace is easier than creating peace. We all have seasons in our lives where distractions within our surroundings will not allow solitude and peace. So leaving and going to an environment that promotes peace is better. Others have the ability to find peace in their own home by filtering out everyone and everything. Wherever that peaceable place is, use it.

Let go of agendas.
This is a time where God is in control. We are to not have any agenda items that we bring into this time. This is probably one of the most difficult things to achieve. We do not need to fill up the quiet…our society is very afraid of silence. If more than a few seconds pass, we feel responsible to fill it with something. Something truly amazing happens when we allow ourselves to hear the wind rustle through the trees, the water trickling in a stream, the tick-tock of a clock, the sweetness of soft music mixed with sounds of nature, soda bubbles popping in a glass, the chorus of crickets at night…and the list goes on. Listening to such things brings the awesomeness of God into your quiet time.

Remember, God is a big God and He has more to say to us, show us, and impart to us. We just have to be willing to do what Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.”