Contemplative Prayer

God speaks loudest when we’re quiet.

You’ve heard it said that God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Logically, it should be easier for us to speak half as much and listen two times more, right?

It is an unfortunate tendency of our human nature to use prayer time as an opportunity to purge all our transgressions, frustrations, and desires. While this is certainly the time to vent, plead, and praise, remember to let God get a word in edgewise. “Be still and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10

God is not Santa. Yes, your Heavenly Father wants to know the desires of your heart. He wants you to talk to him, and there’s no matter or need too trivial for Him. But if we think of God only as the postal delivery man bringing us our order, we miss out on the spiritual closeness that comes from listening to God, rather than simply hoping He’ll fulfill our shopping list of wants.

Picture an adolescent girl on a cell phone. She rattles off rumors at the speed of several sentences per breath, completely unaware that her conversation is entirely one-sided. Similarly, God doesn’t always want to be on the receiving end of a one-sided conversation with us.

As much as we want to be heard, our Divine Teacher wants us to hear Him even more. It’s a well-known fact in academia that the more senses a student uses to learn new ideas, a higher percentage of those concepts will be absorbed. During prayer, we have the opportunity to use hearing as well as speaking. If we choose only to use one of those senses, we short-change ourselves. When we’re quiet, we can pay closer attention to God’s instruction and internalize the directions He’s giving us.

Contemplative prayer is the buzz-word given to a habit of praying in silence. You may be thinking: I’m usually silent when I pray. Are you really? Are you maintaining an inward silence long enough to hear God speaking to you?

At first, this is easier said than done. Utter silence is often a difficult notion to embrace. But, with practice, it becomes easier to close your eyes and meditate upon the will of the Lord. This is not the time to tell Him your will. This is the time to be still and listen for Him to direct your path. “…when you are in your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” Psalm 4:4

Here’s a little challenge: For one week, when you pray, make an honest effort to speak less and hear God more. Begin each of the next seven days by entering into God’s presence and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide your path. “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:3

For more articles related to this subject and others please visit Raise-Praise.com

Awesome free Bible quotations

Give, and it shall be given to you. For whatever measure you deal out to others, it will be dealt to you in return... Read More

Great free information - praise & worship articles

A frazzled family was rushing around one morning, trying to get out the door to church, knowing they were already going to be late. “Don’t worry, mom,” their adolescent son said. “I don’t like the singing anyway.” “Oh,” cautioned the mom. “That’s the most important part.” “It is?” replied the child. “I thought we were there to hear a sermon.” “No!” said the... Read More

Our Creator certainly deserves our worship. He is worthy of it, and due the honor. The fascinating truth is that we need worship more than He does! “Wait a minute. When I praise the Lord, that is my gift to him. How does that benefit me?” When we enter into a time of prayer not for the purpose of requesting things, we’re really worshiping. We’re thanking Him for saving us, for what He’s done in our lives, and what we’re expecting Him to do. We’re adoring His attributes. We’re marveling at His creation. We’re claiming our commitment to Him. We’re...Read More

Singing praises to God or worshiping him opens up a window to heaven. As your praise reaches the heart of God, it becomes a two way stream of communication. As you touch God with your praise, his Holy Spirit touches you and ministers to you. Praise and worship can also open the door to blessings from God...Read More

At our church children aren’t always with adults during praise and worship time. Often they are attending age-appropriate services where the message and music are geared for them. Although relaxing for parents, I believe we all miss out on something by not worshiping together...Read More

Our faith should be growing every day. Did you know that worship helps our faith grow? How? During worship we: Acknowledge God owns everything; Function confidently, knowing He’s in control; Understand that He gives and takes away and love Him regardless; Express thanks no matter the situation; Sing and speak praises to Him in rough times just as in the good times; Are quick to obey; Bold to witness; Are quick to submit to Him and others...Read More

Sometimes we are so inhibited. We cover ourselves up. We hang blinds and curtains on our windows. We tint our vehicle windows. We keep to ourselves, don’t dare to be real with others and don’t nurture deep, meaningful relationships even with our Christ Jesus Lord. On the flip side, some of us walk around indecently exposed; we express ourselves very freely through dress, hairstyles, body piercing and tattoos, pickets, and boycotts. So why do we find it difficult to...Read More

For three years while I was a worship pastor almost every week someone from the congregation would bring up the issue of Hymn's vs. Choruses. Some members wanted more hymns, some wanted more choruses, some wanted hymns sung like choruses and some wanted less hymns and less "old" chorus songs so that we could do more "new" stuff...Read More

The Nature Of Prayer, And How We Use It. In our modern world of science, we’re sometimes tempted to think of prayer, petition, and merit as a mathematic equation. “Pray about X for Y number of hours, fasting for W days, and X will be answered.” We’ve come to expect an immediate answer to our problems…like a simple program that has occasional bug, but generally works well with a few clicks of the mouse...Read More

Prayer definitely works and is still working today as it did thousands of years ago. There are many that have experienced it's power. Just when you wonder when are things going to get better...prayer gets answered! And most of the time it will be better results than what you imagined! A powerful true experience of what prayer can do for those...Read More

Finding time to pray after becoming a mother has been challenging. I find myself consumed with the daily tasks of laundry, dishes, house cleaning, chauffeuring, etc. At the end of the day I’m tired from the full day of activities. The extra time I once devoted to prayer or bible study has been consumed by children and family duties...Read More

God speaks loudest when we’re quiet. You’ve heard it said that God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Logically, it should be easier for us to speak half as much and listen two times more, right? It is an unfortunate tendency of our human nature to use prayer time as an opportunity to purge all our transgressions, frustrations...Read More

Joel 2 verse 17 "Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?"...Read More