Silence: Its Power and NecessitySample

Silence: Its Power and Necessity

Luke 5:16 - So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Psalm 139:7-12 - Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Watchman Nee, a famous Chinese preacher and author from the last century, tells of how two young men came to him and told him they wanted to work for the Lord. They were full of zeal! He sent them to a remote location for three months. The fire was still there when they returned but in addition to that there was brokenness, deeper surrender to God, humility, and a deeper dependence on Him. Only then could he use them. There was a significant reduction in “We can do this” and an increase in “Come Lord Jesus, come in power. You alone can do it.”

The Egyptian desert fathers had an expression: "Go to your cell, close the door, and stay there. There, God will teach you everything you need to know." The word "cell" refers to a small and very simple house where these monks lived in the wilderness—in isolation and silence.

In times of solitude, we realise what is going on in our hearts. Only then do we see how difficult it is to silence our hearts. In the silence of isolation — alone with God, we see the tremendous influence of the world on us. What a horror it is to receive no calls for 24 hours, no WhatsApp messages, to have no one to talk to and no one seeking your help! Just you, nothing and God. This is frightening to most people. No music. No TV. No radio. No Internet signal. No timeout. Just you, nothing and God. Whatever you do, it's just you and God. You can't go anywhere because whichever way you turn, he's standing in front of you, behind you — He is omnipresent.

Suddenly, the words "all I am human to know Jesus" (Philippians 3:10) take on a different meaning.

We need to create times for silence and seclusion. Just as oxygen is essential for the body, silence is essential for our spiritual life.