It’s one thing to say that it’s essential to be quiet in order to hear God (and Elijah is proof that God does not always speak through the earthquake or fire but comes to us sometimes in a quiet whisper), but quite another thing to learn how to be quiet (see Ps 131:2). If we are to overcome the barriers of quietness in order to know its blessings, we have to learn how to:
- be determined to seek God. It requires a conscious choice on our parts to quieten our hearts; the old practice of pausing for one minute on the hour helps us to be mindful of God throughout the day and can be the start of allowing our attention to be focussed on God at all times, thus fulfilling the command to ‘pray continually’ (1 Thess 5:17).
- be deliberate in seeking God. There is a need for us to set aside time for God (often called a ‘quiet time’), and to obey His command to keep the Sabbath, following the pattern God has made for us. So often, we believe we are too busy to do this, but we have to learn to respect God’s order and to be ruthless in ordering our time well (see Matt 6:21, Eph 5:16), giving up perhaps some of the things which fritter away our time.
- be disciplined in seeking God. Often, we start to seek God with good intentions, but give up because we become distracted or do not hear Him speaking to us. In the spiritual life, as with all things in life, we need patience and perseverance if we want to see things change. Gradually, as we quieten our hearts, we will learn to hear the Shepherd’s voice. Jesus made this very clear: ‘The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.”’ (John 10:2-5)
