“But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20).
When we think about prayer we often think in terms of what we need or want to say. We concern ourselves about saying the right thing. Or we concern ourselves about not knowing what to say. And because we may not seem to be as eloquent in our expression as others, we think that our prayer will not be heard or received before the Lord. We forget that prayer is not about the eloquence of the words but the attitude of the heart. Prayer, like everything else in the Christian life, is a matter of the heart.
If our heart is fixed upon Him (that is we genuinely know Him, follow Him, and seek to please Him) then everything else falls into place.
One of the aspects of prayer is learning to sit silently before the Lord. Although the Lord welcomes us into His Presence and delights for us to express to Him what is on our heart and mind (Phil. 4:6), it is equally important for us to learn to simply sit silently before Him. Why?
Because when we are silent, we have the opportunity to reflect upon the wonder, the majesty, they mystery and the awesomeness of God Himself. Picture in your mind what the Lord has revealed about Himself in scripture. Think about His Person. Think about the attributes He has revealed about Himself. His grace. His love. Her mercy. His forgiveness. His goodness. His provision. His faithfulness. His holiness. And above all His great salvation! Think about His power that is revealed in creation. (Ps. 19:1).
In the silence, picture in your mind what the scripture reveals about the Lord seated upon His Throne! (Isaiah 6:1-6). Picture the myriad of angels along with the redeemed giving Him honor praise and glory! (Rev. 5:9-14). Then think about the fact that this awesome God knows you personally by name! And this awesome God, longs for you to be there with Him in eternity!
But most importantly, in the silence we give the Lord the opportunity to speak to us personally. And it is there in the silence that we learn to recognize His voice. (John 10:27).
James W. Black
