Silent prayer
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Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Do not think that a prayer must be heard by men to reach the ears of God. When pain grips your mind so tightly you cannot cry aloud, this very silence can be a loud entreaty. Remember Moses, so pressed in spirit, yet God said to him, "Wherefore criest thou unto me?" His voice was not heard, but his heart’s cry ascended. So too Hannah; her lips moved, but no sound came forth, and she obtained all she desired because her heart cried out. Even Abel, silent in death, spoke more powerfully than any trumpet through his blood. The prayer of the heart, when the mind is awake, needs no noisy tongue.
But do not trust in silence if the spirit sleeps. To think you need no other’s prayer, to say "What need have I of prayer?" is to be in the greatest danger. Even Paul welcomed the Church’s intercession. Yet neither can you rest solely on the prayers of saints while giving yourself to slumber. The wakeful soul has a twofold strength: its own earnest cry and the aid of holy supplication. If we rouse ourselves, we are heard; if we sleep, help from without profits nothing. God looks for your own zeal. If you contribute nothing, even what you seem to have may be taken away, for God deems the careless unworthy of His gifts. Strive to learn, and deep things are poured in; listen carelessly, and silence is the only righteous response.
Seek a place free from disturbance for such prayer. Jesus often resorted to a garden with His disciples, apart, to converse on necessary matters without distraction. The market place is a daily war, full of rocks and storms. Before you go out to it, make God propitious in quiet supplication. Prayer is your great weapon, not only at first light but in the watches of the night. A soul at peace within itself, having stilled its own warring passions, can live in godliness and honesty whatever outward tumults rage.
And know that when you pray, you do not inform an unwilling God or supply a lack in Him. He who made all things, visible and invisible, needs nothing. Yet He wills that you approach Him, not to change His mind, but to shape your own, that you may be made fit to receive what He already longs to give.
But do not trust in silence if the spirit sleeps. To think you need no other’s prayer, to say "What need have I of prayer?" is to be in the greatest danger. Even Paul welcomed the Church’s intercession. Yet neither can you rest solely on the prayers of saints while giving yourself to slumber. The wakeful soul has a twofold strength: its own earnest cry and the aid of holy supplication. If we rouse ourselves, we are heard; if we sleep, help from without profits nothing. God looks for your own zeal. If you contribute nothing, even what you seem to have may be taken away, for God deems the careless unworthy of His gifts. Strive to learn, and deep things are poured in; listen carelessly, and silence is the only righteous response.
Seek a place free from disturbance for such prayer. Jesus often resorted to a garden with His disciples, apart, to converse on necessary matters without distraction. The market place is a daily war, full of rocks and storms. Before you go out to it, make God propitious in quiet supplication. Prayer is your great weapon, not only at first light but in the watches of the night. A soul at peace within itself, having stilled its own warring passions, can live in godliness and honesty whatever outward tumults rage.
And know that when you pray, you do not inform an unwilling God or supply a lack in Him. He who made all things, visible and invisible, needs nothing. Yet He wills that you approach Him, not to change His mind, but to shape your own, that you may be made fit to receive what He already longs to give.
Silas
Beloved of All
A silent prayer is still a prayer. When words will not come, God is not waiting for eloquence; he hears the cry of the heart. Scripture shows Nehemiah sending up a quick, silent prayer in the presence of a king, and God gave him favor. Hannah prayed so deeply that her lips moved but no voice was heard, and God remembered her. Your quiet request is not too small or too hidden.
Let the silence become a place of yielding rather than worry. Prayer is not mainly about informing God of a need he does not know. It is about opening the door for what God already desires to do. True prayer begins with his purposes, and our part is to consent to his will. Even wordlessly, we can say, Your will be done.
Keep bringing it before the Lord. Persistence is not to change his mind; it is often to bring us into harmony with what he is doing. Sometimes he waits so that he can give more than we first asked. Watch with thanksgiving, because gratitude changes the way we wait.
Above all, remember who you are addressing. You are praying to the God who keeps his word, whose hand is not shortened, whose ear is not dull. If prayer seems hindered, the trouble is not on his side. Let the silent prayer be honest. If you need to begin with, God be merciful to me, a sinner, that is a prayer he always welcomes. From that place of mercy, everything else opens.
Let the silence become a place of yielding rather than worry. Prayer is not mainly about informing God of a need he does not know. It is about opening the door for what God already desires to do. True prayer begins with his purposes, and our part is to consent to his will. Even wordlessly, we can say, Your will be done.
Keep bringing it before the Lord. Persistence is not to change his mind; it is often to bring us into harmony with what he is doing. Sometimes he waits so that he can give more than we first asked. Watch with thanksgiving, because gratitude changes the way we wait.
Above all, remember who you are addressing. You are praying to the God who keeps his word, whose hand is not shortened, whose ear is not dull. If prayer seems hindered, the trouble is not on his side. Let the silent prayer be honest. If you need to begin with, God be merciful to me, a sinner, that is a prayer he always welcomes. From that place of mercy, everything else opens.
