“Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.” Nehemiah 8:5

I was sitting in the worship service at the church I attend and as we were moving through the service we came to a point where we instructed to stand as we prayed in gratefulness for the offering. I like this kind of moment because it reminds me to be thankful to God for His generosity and provision. It seems I can never be too grateful, especially when I consider the goodness and gifts of God. But something else struck me in that moment. I realized that in times of prayer we are called to quiet in our address to God. It happened as the pastor began to pray and reminded me of those times when the sanctuary of the church in which I grew up seemed to grow incredibly still and silent during the pastoral prayer. It was one of those moments when, if one had a tendency toward whispering, making noise, or just carrying on a conversation, the pastoral prayer seemed to flash like a bold red light, “Quiet please, church in session.”

In prayer we call for quiet in our address to God, but are we as careful to call for quiet in His address to us? It seems obvious to me that God is used to hearing a multitude of voices carrying on all at once and is somehow able to discern and attend to each individual. Otherwise I think the Bible would have included an encouragement to “take a number, please” in our address to God. It’s pretty amazing that we are encouraged, everyone of us at once, to make our requests known to God. It leaves me baffled, since I have problems listening to just one of my grandchildren with a fully attentive ear and mind. God, one might say, is the only being truly capable of multi-tasking (or multi-listening, as the case may be).

But, what I find fascinating is that so often, when congregational prayer takes place, it seems that human words and address become primary to the conversation rather than God’s voice and God’s words. These human words become so important that we readily call for silence when they are being spoken. There is a certain respect I believe associated with this act of silence, a certain reverence as we approach the holy God in prayer, which is appropriate and important.

It is the other side of the conversation that at times I think is lacking in my life. While I am ready to honor the silence of a person addressing God in prayer, I am not as prone to honor the silence when God addresses me. While my words of prayer, petition and praise, are valued by God, I’m not always sure that I value His words to me in the same way. I trust that God is listening to me and cares about each of my concerns, but if things were reversed I’m not sure God would have the same confidence in me.

So, here is a thought, a novel idea. What if we practiced a silence that honored the address of God to us? What if in our corporate worship we invested energy and time in space for silence, a pause, one might say? If in communication offering silence and listening to another honors them and shows our respect, could it be that the same would be true of our communication with God. In the book of Nehemiah there comes a moment when the people of God gather and Ezra, the scribe, stands above them with the Scriptures, the holy writings. As he opens the book the text points out that everyone stood. They stood out of reverence for, and a desire to hear, the Lord. As the book opened to signal that God’s Word was being expressed, everyone stood, and listened attentively.

Each day we are in the presence of one who has and continues to communicate the words of grace, mercy, compassion and love for His humanity. He speaks Holy Spirit inspired words of guidance and direction. But most of all He speaks the final word of our salvation, Jesus Christ. Like His disciples, we must ask, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) And then it would greatly benefit us to practice silence and listen, giving all the honor to the One who deserves our full attention. How is your practice of listening honoring the Christ who is presently speaking?

Here is some music to further encourage the practice of listening for God’s voice as the one primary to any conversation!