Psalms 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 6. God’s ways are higher, and His timing is perfect. This is speech, and speech is not silence!

How quiet prayer fills my heart with blessing.
This concept of “hearing” is also important to Pope Benedict, whose voice is carried by these words found in Lumen Fidei: “Faith’s hearing emerges as a form of knowing proper to love: it is a personal hearing, one which recognizes the voice of the Good Shepherd (cf. Only when we are crushed do we yield what is best in us."

. I was sitting on the shore of a lake, and it was surprisingly quiet. Surely by God’s grace and through the work of others, particularly my college professors and Pope Benedict, I began to realize that prayer was much more than this. I learned that prayer, in contrast, is the way in which God orients our minds and hearts to him in all things. The more we learn it, the more ready we will be to recognize His voice when He speaks, and the more likely we are to obey what we hear. I had to learn to trust God for his presence despite what I felt. We wonder where God is. Prayer requires commitment, constancy, and determination.” Prayer, of course, should not come in spurts, just as holiness is not an occasional thing.

Why does God sometimes speak so quietly that it’s hard to hear him? 1 Kings 19:11-13 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Elijah Meets God at Horeb. In G&E, he writes, “Some moments spent alone with God are also necessary”. I live in small house with my husband and two teens, so sometimes, the only place I can find is the bathroom! They're undergoing the most horrific kind of suffering. "Only when we are crushed do we yield what is best in us." As Pope Benedict taught, prayer is the foundation for a relationship with God. He will enable you to wait.


In both our external world, full of noise and excitement, and our internal world, full of vices and anxieties, we find it very difficult to create even the conditions for silence to exist, and therefore to pray well. And only after that day, then we hear in today's Gospel how once more Jesus wanted to go apart by himself up to pray. What can we do when God seems silent and life is dark? ", Jesus reaches out his hand, holds him up. The call to wait on God is an invitation to trust and hope. Through prayer, we become more like Christ and consequently grow close to him, who may (but not always) in turn provide a feeling of closeness as well, a wonderful consolation in our difficult lives. Over the years, I’ve discovered something about drawing closer to God: it helps to practice inward silence in a place of silence. We hear God’s calling within the history of our faith, in the Sacraments, in Scripture, through adoration, and in our charity, among other things. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time But then he said, "It is I. I am," the words God used at Sinai in the appearance to Moses, "I am." What makes prayer even more difficult, of course, is that silence is not easily obtained.

After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”. We had been wanting to build community within our neighborhood but weren’t sure how to get going. Yes, God has spoken to men out of a whirlwind, but most clearly in these last days through His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.

So as we listen to this and reflect on it, isn't it true we begin to see Jesus so much more clearly as one like us? To prompt us to be still and seek him. He has already spoken in his word and by becoming man and dying for us on the cross, purchasing our eternal salvation. I have discovered the power of silence in the Adoration chapel, where I go every day to pray. I received more guidance on this topic recently, after I asked the Lord, “Is there anything you want to tell me today?” Right away I felt inspired to read Psalm 23: “He leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul” (verses 2-3, NIV). ], Send your thoughts and reactions to Letters to the Editor. Find a time to pray and meditate that works for you and stay consistent with that time. As we approach Christmas, let us pray that the Word be made incarnate in each of us, in our lives, and let our prayer with him guide us in the paths of holiness. We can measure everything against his Word in the Bible. Talk to God about what you’re reading in the Bible when you pray . Now that I am retired, my prayer time has expanded, and so has my heart. The habit of listening is something that you can improve upon and develop. God certainly was not trying to tell Elijah that He speaks in a still small voice. One evening, I sat in such a state, waiting for my Adoration hour to end. Privacy Policy In the opening quotation, I shared Francis’ insight that prayer, being foundational to holiness, is a “habitual openness” to God. '", Sometimes we can best recognize God's majesty when we are quiet. The problem with low whispers is they’re not easy to hear — especially when all around us the wind is howling! If we’re wondering whether the voice we’re hearing is the voice of God, there’s an easy test. He's experienced what we're experiencing, and it gives us a little bit more strength and courage to accept what is happening because we do it together with Jesus, who is our human friend. Sinclair Ferguson discusses what our Christian forefathers called “spiritual desertion” — the sense that God has forgotten us, leaving us feeling isolated and directionless. “If destruction fails to entangle us, distraction will do it’s best.” – Beth Moore. At that moment, he was overwhelmed with grief, as we would be at the loss of someone very special in our lives. (Psalm 28:1), O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! Waiting continually will be met and rewarded by God himself working continually.”. Your presence here with me is precious.” When I have been anxious, he has comforted me with thoughts that arise seemingly from nowhere: “I am watching over your relationships and responsibilities, Jim.” I record what comes to mind in my prayer journal because whatever I don’t write down, I just forget! Quiet. The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. God speaks today to us through His written Word and the Holy Spirit. A graduate of theology and classics from the University of Notre Dame, his studies coincided with the papacy of Benedict XVI whose vision, particularly the framework of “encounter” with Christ Jesus, has heavily influenced his thoughts.


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