Be still and know that I’m with you
Be still and know I am
Those are words from this song entitled Be Still by The Fray. Take a few moments before reading these thoughts to Be Still with the Lord and be blessed by His presence through this song.
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Take time each day to be still
Get away from the hustle and bustle
Even if for five minutes
Spending time basking in God’s love and presence.
In our busy, hectic, fast paced lives the most important thing we can do each day is spend a few moments in silence with the Lord.
What great advice that is vital to knowing God more intimately and allowing Him to work more powerfully in our lives.
Photo courtesy of Coram Deo “Living Before The Face of God” under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Consider Jesus’ example:
But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. –Luke 5:16 (NASB)
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. –Mark 1:35 (NIV)
It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. –Luke 6:12 (NASB)
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. –Mark 6:31 (ESV)
Notice how in all of these Bible verses Jesus took time to slip away from people and spend time praying with God, His Father. Throughout Jesus’ public ministry He preached, had compassion on many and even healed the sick and lame, yet He knew the importance of being still with the Father. If Jesus, being God’s only Son, modeled this, all the more we need to apply it to our lives.
Jesus took time to pray, listen and seek God’s will for His life just like we need to.
This is especially evident in one of Jesus’ last prayers on this earth to God, His Father:
32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” –Mark 14:32-36 (NIV)
What a wonderful example Jesus left us!
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Sure, all we do and all we are is really done in His name but if we are always running, doing things we will miss God speaking to us in the silence. God reveals Himself to us in the silence too.
Our pastor gave us the challenge one day to spend even a minute of “FaceTime” with Jesus daily. He said you would be surprised to see what a difference it would make in your life.
True to what he said, I have noticed a big difference in my life when I take 15 minutes out of my day to go sit in silence in a church and just take time to talk and share with the Lord.
There are so many people who need our prayers and it is a great way to lift them up to the Lord and see how He inspires us to act on any ways to minister to someone. Often, I try to follow up right then whether it be to let someone know I’m praying for them or to check the status of someone I’m praying for.
If you already make time daily to have a few moments of alone time to be still with the Lord, let me encourage you to keep it up! That is awesome!
If you struggle with making time to be silent with the Lord, may I challenge you this week to really take five minutes a day to do that? Start with five minutes and you might be surprised that your time might easily turn into fifteen minutes!
Be creative with how you make time to be still…
… Take a little longer route to the bathroom at work
… Go outside for a quick walk around the building
… Stop into your place of Worship
… Take time in the car to turn off the radio
… Zero in on the Lord while on the bus or train
… Go to your prayer closet in your house
Our lives are made so much richer by dwelling on what really matters each day… Personal fellowship with the Lord praying, listening and seeking God along with His will for our lives!
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” –Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!” –1 Samuel 12:16 (NIV)
