The Holiness of Listening

by Stephanie A. Mayberry

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 

Ecclesiastes 3:7

The other day we were at our weekly prayer meeting. It was going very well, we were shaking the walls with prayer, praise, and warfare. There was no lull, no pause, only an endless stream of prayer and tongues.

It was beautiful.

Then I felt the Holy Spirit wash over me. I stopped. And I heard, “Temper your prayer with space to listen. In the silence you will hear my voice.”

I then realized that when every moment is filled with words and sounds, we aren’t giving Yehovah a chance to speak to us.

We weren’t giving Him silence so He can meet us.

Perceptions of Silence

There are many people who believe that silence is NOT golden. They avoid the spaces where there is an absence of noise. When people are talking and one person pauses, others tend to rush in to fill that void because the silence makes them uncomfortable.

We must get comfortable with silence.

There are those who must have noise all the time. They may be avoiding the voice of Yehovah or they may be avoiding the voice of some other spirit. They talk, sing, listen to music, whatever they can to keep that space filled so the silence stays at bay.

It’s a habit, a culture, but it isn’t biblical.

In fact, it’s silence that is biblical.

That is when we listen.

Yehovah Met His People in the Silence

When Elijah defeated 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and condemned foreign cults, he made himself an enemy of King Ahab and Jezebel. They sought to destroy him and he was forced to flee into the wilderness.

In 1 Kings 19 Elijah is in the wilderness, depressed, and praying that he would die. But Yehovah did not kill him, He ministered to him. He sent angels to give Elijah food and water so each time he awoke, he ate and drank. Yehovah extended mercy to him by giving him rest and sustenance.

Yehovah also listened to Elijah who was frustrated and discouraged. He vented and Yehovah listened. He had worked so hard to do work for Yehovah and it seemed all for nothing. But then Yehovah revealed Himself to Elijah.

11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

1 Kings 19:11-12

Yehovah wasn’t speaking in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. He spoke in the silence in a still, small voice.

And He gave Elijah more work to do.

In 1 Samuel 3 Yehovah came to Samuel when he had laid down to sleep. In the quiet of the night, He spoke to Samuel and gave Him a vision – and He stayed with him as he grew into a great prophet.

3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
4 That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.
8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

1 Samuel 3:3-10

Yehovah Encourages His People to Practice Silence

Psalm 62 is a Psalm for those who are stressed. And it begins with a call for quiet.

Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

Psalm 62:1

Throughout the Psalm it repeatedly calls for quiet. He calls us the calm the chatter and seek the quiet.

In Zechariah 2:12-13 Yehovah is calling for His people to be silent, to wait in reverence and awe, to let Him move. The vision is about Jerusalem becoming the habitation of Yehovah but first, the people must undergo a spiritual and moral reformation as He comes in judgment.

12 And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

Zechariah 2:12-13

In Ecclesiastes 3 we’re told there is a time to keep silent and a time to speak. He is reminding us that there is a time to fill those spaces without words but there are also times when we need to let the silence fill them too.

Yeshua Sought Out Silence for Himself

In Mark 1 we see Yeshua ministering to many, including healing Simon’s mother-in-law. He delivered people and healed the sick even after the sun had set. But in the morning, He got up very early and retreated to a quiet place to pray.

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Mark 1:35

People were looking for Him and when He went right back to ministering. But He needed that time of quiet first.

Luke 5 speaks of Yeshua’s “great fame” and how the multitudes were always seeking Him out.

But it also says that He would seek out the quiet and pray.

15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Luke 5:15-16

Yeshua also counseled His disciples to separate from the people they had been ministering to and to seek solitude for a time. This allowed them to rest and recharge. There was no doubt rest, prayer, and silence as part of that advice.

30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

Mark 6:30-32

And of course, we know that in Luke 22:39-44 He retreated to the Mount of Olives, seeking solitude and prayer hours before He was arrested.

The Power of Silence

Silence is powerful. While prayer should be done aloud, at least loud enough for you to hear it in your own ear, there should also be time for silence.

• Silence reveals not only Yehovah moving in our lives and speaking to us, it also can reveal what is disrupting our prayer, inhibiting our connection to Yehovah, and the things that are disrupting our peace.
• Silence gets us back to a place where we rely on Yehovah for our provision and reconnect with Him. It becomes a practice of comfort and brings about humility and meekness. We can just sit in His presence and let Him wash over us.
• Silence grounds us and encourages us to seek His voice. When we can sit quietly in the midst of the chaos of the world, our minds become quiet, and His voice can be heard. We can rest in Him.
• Silence is a restorative practice that refreshes our spirit, mind, and body, It helps us escape the distractions as we listen for Yehovah and wait on Him.
• Silence strengthens our relationship with Yehovah. When it is part of our prayer time, that prayer time becomes richer and deeper – as does the relationship.

When we incorporate intentional silence into our time of prayer, we stop the flow of words to allow Him to respond. We learn that it isn’t necessary to fill every single prayer moment with our own voice. We can also give Him time when we are quiet so that He can meet us there.

Seeking Silence in Prayer

If you are not used to silence it can be uncomfortable at first. It is a conscious act, and it takes discipline to practice it. Some people find it harder to do than others, so if you are one of those people who likes to feel every space with noise, you may struggle a little.

Just keep at it. Keep practicing. Your prayer relationship with Yehovah is important and listening is part of it. It’s important that you don’t get so busy talking to Yehovah that He doesn’t have the space to respond to you.

Pray aloud but be sensitive to Yehovah’s prompt to listen. This requires you to be tuned in to HIM during your prayer, not the words you are saying. When your focus is on Him, the words will come and the times of listening will occur naturally.

He wants to communicate with you. Let Him. There is indeed holiness in listening.

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