Time for Silence 

   “A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccl 3: 7) 

   Those who know me can tell you that I have a bad habit of starting to talk before others are finished.  It’s rude and disruptive, but difficult to tame.  I ask that God give me the grace to control my tongue.

   I also fear that I may not hear God if I am always talking in my prayers and not listening.  How can I hear what He has to say to me if I never shut up?  That is why I have become drawn to a more contemplative way of prayer.  A time of silence, just focusing on God and what He might want to tell me. Not speaking, simply listening to hear His word.

   This time of silent communion with the Lord has increased both the depth of my prayer life and my faith.  It is then that I am at peace with God, comfortable and at ease in His presence.  I know that if I listen, He will lead me home. 

   Prayer is my “happy place”; it’s where I spend more and more of my time.  In the past I prayed when I had the time, now I take the time to pray and other things can wait.  The cares and concerns of this world are not nearly as important as my time with God in prayer.

   Elijah found God in the “light silent sound.” (1 Kings 19: 12).  God does not yell, He whispers.  If I am not silent I will never hear what He wishes to tell me.