Why should we seek silence?

We have adapted our lives to include the constant noises that invade our day. Silence is actually discomforting to some. Phone apps and white-noise machines advertise better sleep to those who listen to a constant sound. Our televisions keep us company, provide us with ideas, and alleviate the quiet with entertaining options. It is less common these days to pass someone on their morning walk who isn’t listening to someone’s podcast that offers ideas, opinions, and information for their life.

We live in a much different world today than Jesus did. Jesus was surrounded by the voices of others and the needs of others, and those voices increased considerably during the second year of his public ministry. His example is an example for all of us. 

Why did Jesus seek solitude and silence during his earthly life?

Jesus sought a desolate place

Where do you typically go when you need to pray? 

I like to find a quiet, comfortable spot where I can be alone to think and pray. Mark 1:35 describes Jesus’ choice for the chaos of life. Mark wrote, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” 

Why did our all-knowing, perfect, sinless Lord need to pray?  

Our Sunday School teacher asked that question and it gave me pause. Did Jesus need to pray or did he just want to? His ministry was at the highest point of public interest. Everywhere Jesus went, the crowds followed him, seeking to hear his words and hoping to witness or receive a miracle. During these most popular months of ministry, Jesus sought to be alone with God.  

We know Jesus followed God’s commands while here on earth, but did he need God to tell him what to do? Wouldn’t he have already known? 

Actually, that question has been discussed and debated in theology on a lot of levels. When Jesus took on human form, he was “tempted in every way” (Hebrews 4:15 NIV) like we are but did not sin. Satan tempted Jesus after his baptism, and for human reasons Jesus probably wanted to turn those stones into bread. But Jesus wanted to obey God even more. Jesus didn’t want to follow Satan. I’m not going to solve this mystery in a blog post, but as I considered the question, I had another thought. 

Jesus loved his Father, his Abba, in heaven. Jesus would have wanted to hear his Father’s voice and talk with him, Father to Son. Could it be that Jesus sought a solitary, desolate place early in the morning so that he could just share time with God and no one else? 

Maybe Jesus prayed simply to be with God, to fellowship with the One he loved. 

Maybe that should be a goal for each of us as well.

The power of silence 

The word of the Lord came to Elijah on the mountain. Elijah was discouraged because the people were ignoring and disobeying God. He needed to be with God and hear his voice. God sent Elijah to the edge of the cave at the top of the mountain. On that mountain, Elijah experienced the power of God in the wind, an earthquake, and, finally, fire. But God did not speak to him that way. Instead, Scripture tells us that after the fire there was “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). 

Why did God choose to speak with “quiet” rather than noise? 

There is a spiritual lesson about the power of silence we need to learn. If we have examples in Scripture like Elijah and Jesus, those examples are there for us as well.  

When last did you seek a place of solitude and quiet simply to be with God and listen for him to “whisper” his answers to you? God has a voice and wants to speak his word into our hearts and lives. Could it be that we have crowded his whisper out of our lives with chaotic, ever-present noise? 

God’s words are more important than any podcast. His words are perfect, pure truth, and everything else we hear must be tested. Do you tend to study or read your Bible with noise in the background? The first step toward God’s whisper might be to seek out the deafening silence which may cause some of us to feel uncomfortable.  

Jesus got up very early, while it was still dark. In the first century, people didn’t travel at night because the darkness was something to fear. Animals, thieves, and the need for directions kept people from traveling in the dark. Jesus chose that time to be with his Father. 

Why should you seek silence? 

It might take us some effort to find perfect silence. I used to lead silent retreats. We literally arrived at a retreat center, went to our rooms, and lived with one another without speaking to one another or anyone else. I led a few directed times of prayer but mine was the only audible voice that spoke into the silence.  

It was always an uncomfortable feeling at first, but, by the time we came to the end of the retreat, the ladies would share their thoughts and experiences, and it was such a blessing to our group. Mine might have been the only audible voice, but God spoke into their silence through his word, their thoughts, and often something in nature. 

The silence was deafening at first, and then God whispered. 

The voice of God

I always provided the people at the retreat with verses to consider about the voice of God. Three of my favorites are: 

  1. Isaiah 30:21 – “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
  2. Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
  3. Exodus 33:11 – “Thus the Lᴏʀᴅ used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

God still speaks to people, even as he did in our Bibles. When God gave us his Holy Spirit, we received his indwelling voice of comfort, guidance, and direction. God’s voice is also the voice of acceptance, forgiveness, and pure love.  

Today, let’s consider the example set by Jesus and Elijah. Jesus sought solitude to be with God, and Elijah heard God in the quiet. I can honestly say that when I seek answers from God, I seek solitude first. There is something about the deafening quiet that allows God to speak. Our Lord deserves our wholehearted attention, and he deserves to be honored as the One we love. It is into the silence and solitude that God can whisper. 

If you are uneasy or skeptical about these thoughts, don’t worry. Everyone feels that at some point. Just don’t let your uneasiness hinder you from seeking solitude and the chance to be with your heavenly Father. Quiet the world for the sake of his word. The Lord will take it from there. 

God speaks. It is my experience, but it is also the promise of God’s word and the example Jesus set for us.

Be still and you will know God’s voice. Be still and you will know God. 

He is waiting to whisper. He wants you to know his voice.

When you need God to speak

A few weeks ago we sang “Word of God Speak” in our chapel service. That is one of my favorite songs because it seems to usher us to the throne of God where we can sense the comfort of his presence. 

For many reasons, the phrase “Word of God speak” has been my personal prayer since that time. 

I have experienced the truth of God’s voice for a lot of years now and I wanted to write this blog post to teach, remind, or encourage all of you that his voice is a gift we should cultivate for our souls.

Sometimes when I am praying for a person who needs healing or a sense of peace or direction I pray, “Word of God speak.” I want to pray in his will so I ask for him to author my prayer with his words. Often, I want to pray for direction for my own life and choices so I pray, “Word of God speak . . . I want to hear your voice and follow your lead.”

There are times we need to hear God’s voice of comfort and love. During those times I often pick up the Bible and pray, “Word of God speak to me from pages. Speak to me from your truth.”

God speaks. 

When you need his voice, you will learn how to pray and how to listen. 

Frederick Faber’s teaching is wisdom

Frederick Faber was an English theologian and hymn writer in the mid-1800s. Faber struggled most of his life with poor health and eventually died of Bright’s disease at the age of forty-nine. His spiritual journey was marked by a brilliant theological education that he then applied to the needs in his life. His faith was strengthened even as his body grew physically weak. So many times, God redeems the hard times by using them to sanctify our souls. 

Frederick Faber has a quote that has been a goal and a strength to my own soul, especially when I need God’s direction or comfort in my own life. I wanted to share it with you all today. When you need God to speak, consider Faber’s teaching as truth for your life. He said:

There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear these whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not always hear because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on.

What does the prophet Isaiah teach about God’s voice?

Isaiah 30 is a great education in our need to listen for, and to, the voice of God. It teaches us why those words by Frederick Faber are spiritual truth. 

We never have to wonder if God is speaking. God gave us his Holy Spirit so we could live with his voice. So why then do we struggle with knowing God’s will and obeying his voice? 

Isaiah 30 provides some answers.

The chapter begins with the words “‘Ah, stubborn children,’ declares the Lᴏʀᴅ, ‘who carry out a plan, but not mine, who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin’” (Isaiah 30:1).

Have you ever wondered how many mistakes you would have escaped if you had just asked God first?

Have you ever prayed for God’s direction only to immediately begin charting your own path? 

Sometimes we even say, “Lord, I’m moving ahead so stop me if I’m making a mistake.” 

The Israelites didn’t care what the prophets told them to do and didn’t want to wait for God to work in his timing. They made their own plans and did what they thought was right, not what God had shown them was best. That’s why God said in Isaiah 30:15, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Then the prophet told the people, “You were unwilling.”

God speaks all the time and God speaks when it is time. To move forward with our own ideas after praying for guidance is like turning on the faucet to fill the tub and then allowing the water to continually run while you take a shower instead. 

Let’s just say not to wait for God’s answer is to cause yourself a big mess and maybe significant damage.

The grace of God’s answers

As I’ve said, I’m not a fan of waiting, but I have learned that I am a fan of waiting on God. 

It is amazing to pray and then see God’s direction unfold through my circumstances. It is profoundly humbling to hear God speak his direction into my thoughts. When I choose to act on his words, I often realize that the Almighty God spoke into my life to call me to his purpose. 

God really does speak “well nigh incessantly” just like Frederick Faber said. His answers come with his grace and his understanding. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Isaiah 30:21. I discovered it almost three decades ago through my personal study of God’s word. I needed to know when and how to hear the voice of God in my life. I rarely take the time to offer that verse in the full context. But consider the passage so you can know that “your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying . . . .”

Isaiah promised the nation of Israel and God’s people today:

For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 

Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!” (Isaiah 30:19–22).

That is a long passage, but this is the “Janet Denison” rewording of those verses because of the way they have come to be God’s truth for me whenever I need to “hear” the Word of God speak. I would write this passage to you this way:

One day, every Christian will dwell in heaven and never shed another tear. Until then, know you have a gracious God who hears every word you cry out to him. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 

God will allow you to endure adversity and affliction on earth, but the Holy Spirit of God, the Presence of Jesus, is there to guide you through each moment. You can see him if you will search for him. You can hear him if you will listen. You will hear God speak to you in your quiet moments of worship or as random thoughts that aren’t random at all. 

God will most often speak straight from the pages of Scripture. God will tell you, “This is the way, walk in it.” 

And, when you realize the God of the Universe has spoken, you will throw away or submit the lesser things that might influence your choices and trust what you know is the true answer from God from the leadership of his Spirit.

Word of God speak

If you need to discern the voice of God, stop, study, and listen until you do. 

Pray without ceasing and give God the quiet attention his answers deserve. 

How do you start? 

I’d advise you to begin with one of my favorite worship songs, “Word of God Speak,” then move to a careful study of Isaiah 30. Listen and read prayerfully and hear God’s voice guide you to the verses that constricted your soul and spoke to you. Live with that truth and then adjust your life to obey.

That is how God speaks and how he directs our path. 

Trust him to know what is best and God will say, “Here is the way. Walk in it.”

The difference between faithful and Pharisee

Every Christian has Pharisee potential. At times, there is a fine line between faithful and Pharisee.

If you are like me, you are looking forward to the midterm elections so we can get rid of all those commercials! Most of the political ads are slanderous, and I wonder what our children think when they see and hear the vitriol—of our leaders.  

No wonder so many teenagers are struggling with depression and social anxiety. They have been given a set of standards by various sources that certainly don’t encourage kindness. Words are like weapons these days and people are getting hurt. Our culture is getting hurt. 

A lot of Christians who run for office use faith for political advantage. 

I want to vote for a faithful person but not a Pharisee. 

The difference between faithful and Pharisee

The Pharisees knew more about God than almost anyone in the culture. They also lived lives of strict obedience to the rules as their witness. That’s why all of us who have “learned the ropes” of our faith have Pharisee potential. 

It isn’t that the rules were all that bad. In fact, most of them made a person look “set apart” from the culture and helped to keep them from sinning. If a Pharisee worked hard to follow the hundreds of rules that had been written by Jesus’ day, they wouldn’t have had as much time or opportunity to commit a sin. 

Or so they thought, until Jesus came. 

John the Baptist and Jesus called the Jewish leaders a “brood of vipers.” Their words and their witness didn’t lead people to know and love God. Instead, they kept most people from wanting to know God. Their words were like venom that poisoned the people from knowing the truth about God, who loved them and wanted to be their Father. 

So, you see why it is easy for the faithful to have Pharisee potential. Does our witness attract people to want God as their Father? And do our words speak God’s truth, or do they offer a message we think will impress or influence others? 

Paul defined the faithful Christian witness in his letter to the Thessalonians. He wrote, “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thessalonians 2:14–15). 

The Pharisees’ big mistake

I think most Pharisees start out wanting to please God. They wanted to be seen as people who have a faithful witness to others. They wanted to faithfully follow the rules and guidelines of their faith. 

The Apostles and the true prophets of the Old Testament spoke similar messages to the faithful of their day.  

The Apostle Paul said, “Hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” There is a reason the Apostles were given that title in Scripture. Apostolic teaching was the anointed word from God.  

In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah spoke a message from the Lord saying, “Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lᴏʀᴅ” (Jeremiah 23:16). 

Every generation has people who spoke God’s truth and people who only thought they did. The Apostle Peter explained the difference: “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20–21). 

The Pharisees made some mistakes along the way that led them to become “a brood of vipers.” Most of the laws and rules the Pharisees worked hard to follow were manmade, man-authored. God hadn’t given those rules; people had. Jeremiah spoke about the false prophets who were filling people’s minds with “vain hopes.” Jeremiah’s warning should be seriously considered by God’s people today. 

The true prophets weren’t usually the most popular preachers. In fact, many of the prophets lost their lives because they refused to preach what the people wanted to be true. The truth has always come from people who “were carried along by the Holy Spirit” and willing to write, teach, and speak God’s biblical truth. 

The best way to remain spiritually strong

Paul spoke about the difference between milk and solid food in 1 Corinthians 3:2.

Baby Christians need milk. They need to have someone consume the meat of God’s word and process it into spiritual food that others can benefit from. 

Mature Christians have learned to pick up their Bibles and consume God’s word directly for themselves. Christian maturity is the ability to consume the solid food of God’s word. We all need good teaching, but that teaching should cause us to learn how to understand the Bible for ourselves. We need to focus on the voice of the Holy Spirit as we read and study. The Holy Spirit will never alter, edit, or contradict God’s word. His voice simply gives us the ability to receive God’s truth at the deepest levels. 

How much spiritual steak are you consuming each week? How much milk? How often do you read God’s word for yourself and prayerfully listen to his voice teach you truth?  

Christians need to consume more steak.

Fight the Pharisee with faith

I will end this blog post with a request. I want you to spend some time with one of my favorite passages about consuming the pure truth of God’s word. God’s word is wisdom, and Proverbs 2 is about the benefits of consuming God’s pure wisdom. 

Pharisees followed men’s words and ideas and failed. The faithful follow God’s word and stand firm in its truth. They are counted among the righteous. Proverbs 2 explains why. Pray before you read that chapter and ask the Holy Spirit to speak the words of Scripture as God’s message of instruction for your life. Hear God’s voice of truth as you read.  

We all have Pharisee potential. Thankfully, God gave us his Holy Spirit to guide us back to the truth. Jesus called him the “Helper” and the “Spirit of truth” (John 15:26). Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you the rich truth of Proverbs 2 today. 

Christians are called to be witnesses and are gifted with the Spirit of Christ. Let’s strengthen our faith and fight the tendency to act like a Pharisee. Our culture needs to know and love their heavenly Father.