Practicing Silence
How can you practice silence? Are you willing?
Verse of the Day
“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
Today’s Devotional
The Israelites had the Tabernacle. Once in the Promised Land, and when kings were reigning, Solomon built a Temple for the Lord. But now….you are the temple. First Corinthians 6:19-20 says: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
So today, right now, the Lord is in his holy temple. He is in you. Look down at your body. THAT body is where the Lord God lives today. Thank him for his presence within you.
It’s interesting that this verse calls for our silence. Silence is a sign of honor and respect. No words are needed to enhance our God. He needs no explanation. He needs no proof or defense. He is that big. And that good.
Let’s honor the God of extravagant love with our silence this morning. Set a timer for 5 minutes on your phone. Set down your phone or iPad and get down on your knees (if you are able). Let’s bow down before our mighty God this morning. For 5 minutes, let’s be silent and kneeling before our God. Please know your mind WILL wander. That’s ok. I was a taught a technique for practicing silence in the midst of a wandering mind. This teacher said to imagine that you are sitting next to a peaceful river. Each time a thought comes to your mind, imagine yourself placing that thought on a little wooden raft and allow it to peacefully float down the river. Then bring your attention back to God. There is no judgement that your mind wanders and thinks. That is what is was created to do. This is merely a practice to learn how to be silent with God.
Set your intention on being totally open to God. You are merely learning and practicing how to be with Him without an agenda. Ok…Start your timer.
I’m assuming you just did that with me. How did it feel? The practice of silence is a hard one for me. I have lots of words that come out of my mouth and that run NON-STOP in my head. But God deserves for me to practice silence. God told Elijah in 1 Kings 19 that He comes in a gentle whisper. So if I truly want to hear God, I must practice silence. Because I desperately want to hear Him. But I also want to honor God, which I cannot do with all the noise of my life. And even more than I want to hear God, I want to learn how to simply be with Him.
Today’s verse says to be silent before God. We are told in Psalm 46:10 to “Be still and know that He is God.” Practicing the discipline of silence is an act of obedience. We are telling God that we want to be with Him, we want to hear Him and that we will practice silencing the noise of our world to make room for God.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How does silence feel to you?
How did it feel to bow before the Lord this morning? If you didn’t try it, are you willing to try it?
How can you thank God today for YOU being God’s holy temple?
How can you practice silence?
Do you believe practicing silence could help you in your relationship with God?