Our souls long for health and the practices that will bring that health, but we have become adept at ignoring or suppressing that longing. That’s why it’s so important to engage in practices that elevate us above the fray of our lives, practices that help give us an objective distance and enable us to commune with God so that we can see our lives from his perspective. These practices disrupt our numbing routines and open us up so that we can see the kingdom of God all around us.
A mentor shared with me one of the most transformational practices she had ever engaged in: a wordless form of prayer that I have since called “silent prayer.” The idea of silent prayer feels a bit illogical, since so much of how we think about prayer concerns words. But this form of prayer is actually about letting go of our words.
Why Silent Prayer Restores the Soul
Silent prayer has become one of the most helpful and enduring practices in my life. But it can be challenging for those of us who are used to running through life at breakneck speed, either because of leadership responsibilities or community roles or when our home is filled with the chatter and seemingly endless needs of little ones.
Overcoming the Challenges of Silent Prayer
When we’re used to defining our lives by our productivity, it can be incredibly difficult to switch from the mindset that all meaningful accomplishments happen when we do something to the belief that sitting in silent prayer can perhaps be the most productive thing we can do in any given moment.
The Practice of Silent Prayer for Spiritual Flourishing
Silent prayer is a wordless way of resting in the presence of God with an attitude of openness, contrition, and longing. Too many of us are strangers with silence, strangers with sitting quietly and being with God. This must become a regular part of our lives if we want our souls to thrive. Silent prayer helps us discover that our soul knows what we need even before our minds know something is missing or what options might fill the void.
The how of this form of prayer can vary, but my specific practice combines mindfulness principles with a focus on the Trinitarian nature of God. We’re not simply opening up our minds to the universe; the words of Psalm 131:2 remind us we are entering into this form of prayer very much in God’s presence—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As we rest our minds, stilling and quieting our soul in God’s presence, we’re inviting God, or offering a silent assent for him, to work in the innermost parts of our lives.
We get to simply rest in God’s presence. Like a weaned, content child on its mother’s lap. (read Psalm 131:1-3)
Now, if you’re like me, the moment you enter into silence, your mind is filled with a rush of thoughts: things you need to do, things you should be doing, people you’re angry at or who are angry at you. Our minds, like water, become turbulent.
Using Anchoring Words in Silent Prayer
This is why, when we enter into this form of prayer, it’s helpful to choose one word or phrase that embodies and anchors your desire for God—something like peace or flourishing or Jesus or joy. We stop long enough to notice that longing, perhaps writing down that word in a journal, and we allow it to tether us to the silence. When our minds get turbulent, the word can pull us back into quiet water, back to the reason for this time. We can stay there, resting in God’s presence, trusting that at a level below words we’re giving God access to the deepest parts of who we are, saying, “Have your way. Lead me.”
And then, seconds later, when new thoughts start coming, bombarding our minds with new worries, we can again use the word to bring us back to this central space of stillness.
How Silent Prayer Invites God’s Presence
Even merely entering into this space can change our breathing. It’s a whole body experience. I have found that silent prayer creates space in my day where I thought I didn’t have space.
When silent prayer was first recommended to me as a practice, I was encouraged to do it twice a day for twenty minutes, and I laughed to myself because I didn’t think I could do anything for twenty minutes, much less sit in silence! So I modified it to what I thought I could do: twenty minutes once a day five days a week.
Even then, I didn’t feel I had that kind of time. But my life was still in recovery from all that had happened, and I had a very strong sense that perhaps I didn’t know how to run my life. Chaos, anxiety, unhealthy relationships with work—all had led me to a place where my body and mind had given out on me. One of the benefits of a breakdown is that we are forced to face our inability to control even the most vital, important things in our lives.
The Healing Power of Silent Prayer
What I have discovered over the years is that silent prayer has opened me up to being present to God and to others without having an agenda—and it’s opened me up to deep levels of healing. I encourage you: Don’t be afraid of silence. Be willing to step into the quiet, and you will discover that God meets you there.
Some content taken from Ignite Your Soul: When Exhaustion, Isolation, and Burnout Light a Path to Flourishing by Mindy Caliguire. Copyright © 2024. Used by permission of NavPress, represented by Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.
