Bright City - Still, Vol. 2Sample

Acknowledging that God is God, is worship. Often our best response to Him is stillness and silence.

“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

ECCLESIASTES 5:2 (NIV)

For many years I kept a sticky note above my desk with the quote, “Don’t just do something, stand there.” It echoes God’s encouragement to us in Psalm 46:10 to, “Be still, and know that I am God.” 

The quote was a daily reminder to me to prioritize stillness and intimacy with God before rushing into noise and activity for God. It also encouraged me not to jump too quickly into words when I pray – often silence before God can be our purest form of worship. 

I’m the first to admit this can be really hard. With phones often close at hand, the next box-set to get through, to-do lists to complete and busy family lives, we are often over-stimulated, and it can be hard to find space just to be still. The encouragement in this verse from Ecclesiastes is to find time when the words die down, as you stand in the presence of the Living God.

“Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.”

DEUTERONOMY 4:39 (NIV)

Acknowledging God is worship. Silence and stillness can be the best form of “acknowledgement” that the Lord is God, letting the silence speak that He is beyond any words.

Preacher to the Papal Household Raniero Cantalamessa puts it like this:

“If we really need to say something to close our mind and prevent it from wandering onto other subjects, it’s best to do this with the shortest word there is: Amen, Yes. For to worship is to consent. It is to let God be God. It is to say yes to God as God, and to ourselves as God’s creatures.”

We need to be continually finding moments in our lives where we stop still and acknowledge that the Lord is God. And as Deuteronomy 4:39 says, we also need to take it to heart. Deep breath, He is God. We find perspective. 

Taking to heart that the Lord is God changes the way you approach every conversation and the decisions you will make today. Be still. The silence helps you take it in. The silence acknowledges He is God; the silence is worship to Him.

Don’t just do something; stand there. Stand there in silence. Stand there in worship.

Let your words be few. Say ‘Amen’ or ‘Yes’ if you need to. Acknowledge Him. 

Take a few minutes now to try it.

Check out our instrumental worship album here: www.integritymusicdirect.com