It is an extreme understatement to say that we live in a noisy world. For most of us, it is next to impossible to escape the noise all around us. There seems to be a constant background noise that permeates the air, whether that be the machines in our home, the low rumble of traffic on the interstate, or the incessant distractions from the miniature supercomputers in our pockets. In a noisy world silence has become a premium. In this short series of articles I would like to give a few practical ways to seek–and hopefully find– silence amidst a noisy world.
Today we will discuss a few ways to seek silence on a daily basis.
Seeking silence daily isn’t difficult in and of itself and can require minimal planning. It simply requires a dogged commitment to put away the distractions and sit for a few minutes in the presence of God. Let me clarify that, for the Christian, the purpose of seeking silence is not only to de-stress and put ourselves into a Zen-like state.
These are only secondary benefits to seeking silence. The primary purpose of sitting in silence is enjoying a momentary Sabbath in the midst of the noise; to make room for listening to our good and present God.
First, you must find the time. Thirty minutes is a good window to aim for. But if you only have fifteen minutes take it. Something is better than nothing. There are at least three times during the day that can be set aside for the purpose of seeking silence: in the morning, at lunch (midday), and before we go to bed. Depending on your schedule, aim for one of these three periods during the day. If another time works better for you and your schedule that’s fine. The point is to plan for fifteen to thirty minutes each day to sit in silence.
If you work (and that’s most of us) take your lunch break or coffee break and use fifteen minutes to sit in silence. If it works better for your schedule, you can take the first fifteen minutes of your day, or the last fifteen minutes of your day after you’ve put the kids to bed to sit in silence. The point is take a few moments each day to sit in silence with your creator.
Remember, this time is for silence, an opportunity to simply sit before your Creator, and just be. During this time try to avoid journaling, reading, or even reading the Bible. Just sit in silence. Close your eyes for as long as you can, this helps with the distractions. The first five minutes or so will be a battle of the mind and will. All of the things that you need to do that day or didn’t accomplish during the day will come flooding in. Give that to God in prayer and focus on being still and remaining quiet. Resist the temptation to look at your phone or to look at the clock. If you have a hard cut off point, set an alarm, but don’t look at it. Focus on the silence.
As you sit in silence for a moment, to be attentive to what comes to mind. Take the distractions that come to mind and prayerfully set them aside. Pay attention to other things that come to mind. Be attentive to the way that you feel. You may experience fear, doubt, or anxiety. These are all things that we need to give to the Lord in prayer. Are these emotions simply distractions or are the areas that we need to give attention to in your spiritual formation? Only time in prayer will provide the answer.
Be attentive to phrases, words, or Scripture verses that come to mind. Use those opportunities for prayer. As you sit in silence, repeat these back to the Lord. If the same words or phrases become a theme in your silence. Write them down and pray through them. If Scripture comes to mind, use that in your Bible reading next time you have the time. These are all ways that the Lord may be speaking to us and we need to be attentive to them. There may also be sin that comes to mind that we need to confess. Take the time to sit and silence and confess them to the Lord. As you sit silently in his presence, be reminded of the grace and mercy that is given to you as a child of God through the person and work of Jesus.
When your allotted time of silence comes to a close end by saying the Lord‘s Prayer or some other short prayer. Again, be attentive to the way you feel afterward. Commit to sitting in silence again tomorrow. The more you seek silence, the easier it becomes, and the more you will seek extended periods of silence. If you miss a day, don’t be discouraged, plan for tomorrow. The point is just to do it.
In our next article, we will discuss ways to seek silence on a weekly or monthly basis.
Photo Credit Unsplash.com
Consider subscribing to our newsletter to receive updates on new articles, reviews, and podcast episodes. To learn more about the good news of Jesus Christ, please click here.
We also invite you to consider supporting the ongoing ministry of Coram Deo.
Discover more from Coram Deo
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
