GANEIDA'S KNOT.

Go mbeannai Dia duit.

About Me

My photo
Quaker by conviction, mother by default, Celticst through love, Christ follower because I once was lost but now am found...

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Why silence?

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. ~Mother Teresa
There come times when I have nothing more to tell God. If I were to continue to pray in words, I would have to repeat what I have already said. At such times it is wonderful to say to God, "May I be in Thy presence, Lord? I have nothing more to say to Thee, but I do love to be in Thy presence." ~O. Hallesby

The hardest thing to do is to empty myself of me....& there is so much of me to get rid of. For me one of the attractions of silence is that is is possible to do this to some extent. Given an hour 15 or 20 minutes of it is wasted chasing my own rabbit trails. It takes at least that long to clear my mind enough to even begin to think about God in any meaningful way.

People who leap straight into prayer amaze me. They amaze me because it takes me a bit to organize my thoughts. They amaze me because I try to allow the Holy Spirit to guide & direct my prayers ~ which are not often the things I am fretting about when I set out to pray & rarely concern me when I'm done. Go figure! People who leap straight in to prayer amaze me because I'm still trying to clear my thoughts when they start & I'm left wondering because while the prayers of a righteous man availith much, sin will have our prayers bouncing back at us & going nowhere.

Prayer, deep prayer, requires time & patience...& practice. After twenty minutes I usually start to *centre*. My mind clears & the tranquil presence of the Holy Spirit settles. Outside distractions subside so that is becomes possible to listen to the still small voice of God. This is the prayer I like best ~ to simply rest in the presence of the most high God. This is not prayer as it is practised in the majority of our churches & what passes for prayer leaves me empty & dissatisfied.

Now I know most people can't cope with a whole hour of silence. This is why our homes are filled with the noise of the radio or television. So it has been a blessing as our home church evolves to find oasis of silence in unexpected places. One of these is in music. I can't sing, that's Ditz's department, but I don't mind belting out a simple tune with the best of them on occasion. With just the 6 of us & Liddy providing the music from modern bands like Casting Crowns we aren't making a joyful noise unto the Lord. I can shut my eyes & simply listen to the words & the melody & allow the Holy Spirit to minister to my spirit. This is bringing me into a meditative state of prayerful attention so that as we read through the scriptures I don't feel the need to talk much ~ so odd for me I know.

The simplicity of our service is spiritually satisfying. Reading the scriptures & just talking through them is edifying & it is bringing close fellowship. So having finished Philippians this week we had a short discussion as to where to read next & are moving into Revelation. I love Revelation. After the gospel of John it is my all time favourite book of the bible. For a chronic fantasy reader Revelation is an absolute feast!

The other thing we are considering is our first outreach which sounds much fancier than it actually is. Our other family goes away camping regularly so on those weeks we are thinking of doing a youth fellowship in the evening with those youngsters Liddy has already been outreaching to. Maybe. Just a think but we're thinking about it. Prayerfully. In silence.

12 comments:

Diane Shiffer said...

ahhhh......... how i wish i could come to your house this morning. right now my church is full of the clatter of interpersonal yuckiness, so sad and so different from how it has always been. i do so dislike it. intensely. i'd love to be going to a place of silence and worship this morning instead, like your place♥

Ganeida said...

Oh, Diane, I should so love to have you join us! I have struggled for years in regular churches & with no meeting nearby. I can get to meeting if I'm prepared to travel now but it is fairly liberal which means I have to be on my guard a bit. At least with silence no~ones actually preaching heresy!

seekingmyLord said...

"The hardest thing to do is to empty myself of me....& there is so much of me to get rid of."

I could have--probably have at some time or other--written this myself.

Ganeida, how could two people be so alike in the Spirit yet be so different...and so apart.

Ganeida said...

Seeking. I find it so odd that some of the deepest & most meaningful friendships have happened over the computer. lol. Guess I'm not to everyone's taste so really appreciate the very few like minded individuals the Lord graces me with.

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

I think that's wonderful, to connect with God in a new and deeper way. You know later as your church grows or things change you will find other new ways. And you're so right... going back to the scriptures is just so key. We get so used to being "entertained" in churches that we can forget. :]

Molytail said...

mmmmm....I'm one who doesn't cope well with silence. I mean, I can handle it for a wee bit..but then I need noise. Heh, I'm one of those who can. not. drive without music. When I had a vehicle before with a non-working stereo, I brought the cd player w/ batteries in the car LOL

I love Casting Crowns (have you heard "Slow Fade"? There's a vid for it..I love it, depressing as it is!)......

We just moved churches again - and our new one is ... more energetic and louder than the other LOL...

Anonymous said...

Moly, You & Ditz. :D Silence is so NOT her thing.

MrsC: totally agree on the entertainment thing. We decided on this method because we had such issues with the way the preaching was being organised last place where behind the scences money seemed to be why people wanted to preach. UGH! The Lord seemed to be leading this way so that eveyone involved has time to heal ~ & healing is very necessary.

Anonymous said...

Revelation is my favourite book of the Bible, too.

Our church is changing at the moment, with different leaders being lifted up. God uses who He will when He wants to.

Silence is essential to my whole being, but usually the only time that I can aspire to silence is when I'm in the shower. That is the one time of the day that I have just for me.

My time with God is usually first thing in the morning, and I know that He waits just for me every morning. It's nice to know that I have His full undivided attention!

Diane Shiffer said...

just wanted to come back here and comment again... i've been working hard at the "silence" thing during my quiet time with the Lord since i read this post. now mind you, before i started on this conscious effort towards silence, i thought i was doing plenty of listening to Him. but now i'm realizing how very busy and cluttered my mind has become, even during my worship times. it really is a discipline, this quieting the mind and letting Him has time to have His say, isn't it? my mind just *will* insist on chattering on and on.. sigh... well, i'll keep working at shutting it up;)

Ganeida said...

An *aha moment* BIG GRIN. *That's* why all the noise & distraction in regular church bothers me sooo much. Mind you, I've been known to put myself to sleep doing this. lol. I'm so pleased you came back to comment again & I do hope as you experience more of this type of prayer you find it as soul fattening satisfying as I do.

Susan Jane said...

What a wonderful O. Hallesby quote. Am browsing your blog and its really been uplifing. I love Revelation too, and lately have been absorbing Zechariah. All Blessings.

Ganeida said...

Yes, the Lord has had me in amongst the prophets for some time ~ & the parables. Message has arrived loud & clear, thank you, Lord!