A significant and new understanding for me was that prayer is more about listening than talking. That should come as no surprise, since the greatest gift we can give someone is to be fully presence and listen to them with an open heart. God gifted us with His presence as Emmanuel ("God with us") when "the Word became flesh and lived among us." (John 1:14) He promised to hear our intercessions and praises, so we also take time for listening prayer. That means we are silent before Him.
Jan Linn has been
leading people on silent retreats for over twenty years. These silent
retreats are normally entire weekends during which a group goes to a
monastery or some retreat center and never says a word the whole
weekend. Someone asked Dr. Linn, "Why silent retreats?" "Because," Dr.
Linn replied, "in silence we are no longer in control."
Think about
that for a minute. As long as we are talking we will not hear God and
we will not hear anybody else. As long as we keep talking we will never
have our positions or values challenged by God. When we talk we set
the agenda. When we talk we have some influence over other people. We
talk to stay in control.
On the other
hand, when we remain silent in conversation with someone else who is
talking, we allow that person to take control. Silent prayer, whether
for a whole weekend or for two minutes a day, is a time of losing or
giving up control and allowing the Spirit of God to be in control. That
can be a frightening experience. To wait before God in prayer is to
affirm that God is in control.
(Biblical Preaching Journal, William B. Kincaid, Summer, 1994)
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