Pray for the Desire to Be with Him
Almost 20 years ago, I was at a women’s retreat where a speaker said, “If you can’t spend time in silence, you have a spiritual problem.” This wasn’t the topic of her talk, just a passing comment but it struck a chord with me. I don’t remember anything else from that 2-day retreat but it led me to make some radical steps toward incorporating silence into my daily life. I started by just turning off the TV at home and the radio in my car when I was alone.
As I talk to others about incorporating silence into their lives, I realize how much more difficult it is today than it was 20 years ago before the dawn of podcasts, streaming television and smartphones. Even if we want silence, those with whom we live may not.
In the last post I listed 6 suggestions that might help. The first one is simple but so simple we might overlook it.
Pray for the desire or grace to sit in silence and solitude…. and don’t stop asking.
Praying for a desire or the grace to do something is powerful because God is capable of doing more than we ask or imagine (Eph. 3). There have been times in my life when I emotionally or mentally could not fathom doing something (or felt I had the ability to stop doing something I desperately wanted to stop doing) so I prayed that God would give me the desire and will to make it happen even when other people in my life seem to be working against me.
I would often take time to process with God about why I didn’t have the desire instead of just blaming it on circumstances. Sometimes, He would reveal things I needed to know about myself. Other times He simply moved in power and helped me. And still I struggle with some of these things, even years into asking. But I have faith that God isn’t giving up on me. And He isn’t giving up on you either.
If you struggle to spend time in silence and solitude, pray about it: “Lord, give me the desire and grace to spend time alone with You. I want to give you my full attention and hear Your voice. I want to sit and bask in your love for me.”
You may look back in a few years and be amazed at how you have grown in this practice.
Social image by Johannes Plenio
