Quiet Prayer

Isaiah 30:15 [ESV]

15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

Until a couple of years ago, I thought that the only way to pray was to talk to God. I grew up hearing the old line - God talks to us through the Bible and we talk to him when we pray. It's as if we could expect God to keep his end of the conversation up only through the book, because we know he's got no other way to communicate with us.

Perhaps we think this because we don't let him get a word in. If your taught to talk when you pray, and never to listen, how would you know if God were a talkative person?

I think one of God's primary life-change tools is listening prayer - in being quiet and resting with God, so that he can infuse us with strength. Returning to God's presence and resting there - that's the way to become a different person. I need to talk with him, but there are times when I need to be quiet and listen for Elijah's low whisper. If we trust him and if we are quiet with him, there we will find our strength.