Eastside 21 Days of PrayerSample

DAY 4: A PRAYER OF STILLNESS

Stillness is the absence of movement or sound. As Shannon L. Alder put it, “If you want peace in your life, you have to stop declaring war.” 

The next six words of Psalm 131 are, “I have calmed and quieted myself.” Some translations use the word “stilled” instead of “calmed.” When infants stop fighting sleep, it is said they have learned to “self-soothe.” Do you have the ability to calm and quiet yourself internally like we expect a child to at naptime? If so, how do you do it?

Some have used this technique: close your eyes and be aware of your toes for five seconds. Then, your feet. Now your ankles, moving part-by-part all the way to your head. Try it to slow down your RPMs and to be still.

PRAY

1. “Pursuing” is an active word, but ironically, pursuing God requires stillness. Now that you have calmed and quieted yourself, declare softly this decision you have made to God by slowly repeating this phrase from scripture to him three times: “I have calmed and quieted my soul.”
2. In this new-found stillness, what do you want? Anything? Nothing? To just sit with God in it for a while? To tell him what is now on your mind? Whatever it is, do that now.
3. Thank him for the peace that comes from being still, and ask him now to help you return to this stillness more often and to establish it as the center of your relationship with him. Mark two more times today where you will return to this stillness and enjoy a God who is so much bigger than you and the things that concern you.