Day 2: Making Room for God in a Loud World

"Be pleased, O God, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me!" — Psalm 70:1 (RSV)

If silence is so good for our spiritual lives, why is it so hard? The reason may be because everything in modern life screams, scrolls, and scrolls some more.

Yet even the early believers who practiced silence didn’t expect to be perfect at it. We can learn from them. They started small and practical—and so can we. Over the centuries, we've received insight from those who have gone before us like Brother Lawrence who writes,

"We must keep our minds in silence before Him, not tiring ourselves with an anxious multiplicity of words."

When we keep our minds on God, we discover that He is all we need. We begin to pray more in line with David who knew to turn his battles and struggles over to the Lord.

Rather than worry and anxiety, we can also ask God to come to our assistance and help when we need it most.

Yet when our lives are full of loud distractions, we sometimes forget to turn to the Lord. This is because we have reduced our mental and spiritual bandwidth, causing us to live more reactively than proactively. Silence draws us into a life of proactive spiritual pursuit.

Yet cultivating the spiritual discipline of silence takes time, and practice. But you can do it when you follow some helpful tips:

• Start small. Five minutes of real stillness is enough to begin. Notice the texture of your clothes, the hum of the fridge, the steady background of your breathing.
• Create a space. A chair, a blanket, a candle, a closet—somewhere you can return to without distraction.
• Expect resistance. Silence stirs up noise inside us. Let it. Then keep coming back.
• Anchor your thoughts. Use a single word when you drift—“Jesus,” “Peace,” or “Here I am.”
• Prioritize presence over perfection. It's not about mastering silence. It's about consistently showing up.

You're not trying to earn God's attention. You already have it.

By cultivating the rhythm of silence in your life, you're simply tuning into the voice of Jesus so you can hear Him more.

As Isaiah 30:15 (NIV) says, "In quietness and trust is your strength."

True strength isn't found in the endless holy hustle. It's found in the quiet trust that God is already at work.

Reflection:

Where can you carve out a small pocket of silence this week? What might help you focus?

Prayer:

O Lord, help me cultivate the gift of silence so that I can hear You more. In Your name, I pray.