Walking with God in Silence
The practice of silence is not about becoming a master of emptying your mind to meditate in the complete void of thought or sound. For Christians, silence is simply turning off the noise around us so we can be with God and hear His voice.

Jesus called this the secret place where we go to pray and be with the Father (Mat. 6:6). It is a secret place because there is no room for any other voice, including Christian voices found on podcasts, YouTube, and audiobooks. It’s just you and God!

I think a lot of people are propped up on the teaching and devotions of popular Christian voices. Although these are good and can be very encouraging, they can sadly replace the personal voice of God in people’s lives.

The author of Hebrews called people who rely on others to teach them what God is saying as “dull of hearing” (Heb. 5:11). Instead of walking with God themselves and learning to hear His voice, they need someone else to tell them.

Practising silence helps us to wean ourselves off the noise and voices of others and learn to just be with God and attune our ears to Him. As you might expect, this isn’t easy and takes practice and commitment.

I (Adrian) discovered I was addicted to noise because I always had to have something playing in the background. At first, silence was uncomfortable and awkward. What I learned, though, is that God’s voice became clearer the more I practised it.

Although God can speak to us when life is full and overwhelming, He does lead us “beside quiet waters” (Ps. 23:2) for a reason. God led Elijah to Mount Horeb, a vastly different mountain from where he was only weeks earlier, on Mount Carmel.

On Mount Carmel, there was the sound of “frantic prophesying” (1 Ki. 18:29) from hundreds of false prophets all day long. On Mount Horeb, on the other hand, there was nobody. It was a desolate mountain, a perfect place for Elijah to be with God and hear His voice.

And he did. Strangely, it was only after a powerful wind, earthquake, and fire passed by that there was the “sheer sound of silence” (1 Ki. 19:12). It was in the silence that God spoke to Elijah. I think there is something we can learn from this.

When we make time to be with God in silence, we need to expect a wave of thoughts to come to the surface. There is a lot going on in our lives, and the moment we try to be silent, they are all going to come to mind. The key is to be patient and let them pass by.

This isn’t easy, and it could take time, maybe days of practice. However, if you are persistent and patient, you will arrive at a place of “quiet waters” and be ready to hear God speak to you personally.

For me, I incorporated more times of silence in my day, and this created more mental space for me to just be open and ready. What I noticed was God’s voice would just drop into my spirit, mostly when I didn’t even expect it.

Here is what I want to encourage you to try.
1. Allocate time this week to silence (car trip, walk, sitting down).
2. Take note of the rising thoughts that come and give them time to pass.
3. Embrace the silence and listen for the voice of God.

Remember, silence isn’t a waste of time. It is an offering of time.

Below is Sunday’s message on YouTube.