Simple Silence: A Place of Quiet Prayer

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Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Mark 6:31

Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. (Mark 6:31)

  AN INVITATION FROM JESUS – COME PRAY IN SIMPLE SILENCE

 

WHEN THE WORLD IS NOISY

 

The headlines shouted across the glaring screen — and my heart dropped lower than I thought it could go. It seemed that I felt the weight and the sadness of the world crashing down on me. How could I find any quiet rest with such chaos gripping my soul? Where was the quiet place for prayer?

As I paused so briefly in the next moment, I heard a whisper, stronger than the weight, deeper than the sadness:

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. (Mark 6:31)

Are you also feeling those anxious mind-racing thoughts that threaten to pull your heart down? Our Lord Jesus has called us to lay the weight down and find His quiet rest.

When the world is reeling under constant change and chaos, there is another voice, another way. Our Lord Jesus has called us to lay down the loud shouting and to find His quiet rest.

HE is the true rest our souls are craving.

 

PAUSE IN OUR RUSHING

 

He calls us to slow in the rushing, to listen to our breathing, to center our thoughts on Him. We don’t have to wait until the noises in our minds stop. No, we can pause in the very middle of the shouting and lift our thoughts to Jesus. “Jesus, my Savior, have mercy on me.” Quietly, one syllable at a time, He gently invites us to focus our hearts on Him.

What if we wander back to the worries and the anxieties — what then? He invites us again, and again, and again. There are different names for this spiritual discipline of quiet prayer: Centering Prayer, Silent Prayer, Breath Prayer. Each practice is an invitation to center our thoughts and our hearts on Jesus. He will meet us in that place of quiet rest and simple silence.

 

SIMPLE SILENCE: A PLACE OF PRAYER

 

If you visit Let’s Pray, you will find a wonderful sampling of many different kinds of prayers. Scattered throughout God’s Word are myriad ways that his people have found themselves bowing in prayer.

We invite you to pause and explore those pages as the Lord leads you. Let His Holy Spirit be the guide to call you. If you listen, you will hear His words, “Come away with me to a quiet place and get some rest.”  He will be our quiet place for prayer when the world is filled with chaos.

Will you join us in prayer today?

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for coming into our world and facing the same loud and anxious rushing we deal with in our own minds. What a precious shepherd you are for us, leading us into the same place of quiet prayer that you set before your disciples! Will you help us to still our thoughts? Even during these heavy days of our world’s rocking, we trust that YOU are King overall. We want to hear your voice and rest in your words over us. We lift our hearts to you now and magnify your great name, our precious Savior and Lord.

In your name we pray, amen.

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

Bettie Gilbert

Bettie Gilbert

Contributing Writer

You can find Bettie blogging from her home in the far north suburbs of Chicago at bettiegsraseasons.com. She is walking forward with Jesus in the middle of her pain and weakness from multiple chronic illnesses. The beauty of nature and her family (including ten grandchildren) are Bettie's joys. She and her husband have been married for over 40 years and take great delight in their weekend coffee breaks together. Abiding in Him is a devotional memoir written by Bettie and her husband, Barry.

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is the ancient practice of slowly, contemplatively reading the words of Scripture, an invitation to encounter God through His Word, to pay close attention, and to be fully present.

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