Being Still doesn’t come easily to Americans. We seem to always be on the move. We have mobile phones so we don’t have to go home to make a call. We have smart phones so we don’t have to be tied down to a desk. We use microwaves and insta-pressure cookers to speed up cooking – in case we decide to pass up the drive-through attached to the local eatery.
This post examines Prayer 5 of the 13 Prayers I regularly pray for all my readers.
The prayer:
To become still and quiet before God — your Strong Tower.
Why it matters:
When our bodies are still:
It’s even hard to find someone today who can sit still for very long. If they’re watching TV, most people usually check their phone during the commercial breaks. Watching sports? At my house, at least, usually means cheering for a favorite team or coaching from the sofa.
When our mouths are still:
Have you noticed how rude people have become? Talking during a movie or show or the man who was cursing at the table behind me when Hubby and I went out to eat not long ago. It seems we’re not that great at staying silent.
Going into battle by being still:
Usually people fight battles with actions or words, but there’s a much better way that is waaaaay more effective:
Ex. 14:14 says, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
What’s interesting is what you get when you look at this verse in various translations:
- NIV – be still
- NCV – be calm
- AMP – be silent
- ESV – be silent
To me, still and silent are two very different things. But whether translated still or quiet, the command is still counter-intuitive. But that’s where faith comes in. God can handle any situation better than we ever could – if we would just stop trying to help Him out.
I’m not sure why this is such a difficult lesson for me. He’s the Creator of the Universe, after all. What could I ever hope to accomplish on my own? Yet, time and again, I take on a “let me do it” attitude.
How do I get still?
Let’s take a second to see what being still would look like:
- Start with praise and prayer – admire God and welcome Him into this time
- Meditate on a specific scripture – pick something that you’ve connected with recently
- Jot down any distracting thoughts to deal with later – if you don’t, they will multiply
- Recite a prayer of stillness, asking the Holy Spirit to rule over your mind – make it simple: “Still my thoughts.”
- Start small and build up more time – One or two minutes of deliberate stillness before God today is probably 1 or 2 more than you worked on having yesterday
- Realize that stillness is NOT always quiet and pretty – the enemy doesn’t like this because he knows how powerful it is
- Commit to practice stillness – this has to be a conscious choice
- Realize that God will refresh you during the stillness – God wants this for us and will reward us by refreshing and renewing us
Heavenly Father, please make it possible for us to come to You for daily stillness. Give us a hunger for this connection and the discipline to make it happen. Protect us from the enemy as we begin this practice, and show us how strong this time can make us.
Thanks for stopping by. Look for me on social media as @13Prayers. And you can find links for posts over the other prayers here.
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