Make Space for What Matters: 5 Spiritual Habits for LentSample

Spiritual Habits: Stillness

Imagine you’re standing on a hill by yourself. A stream trickles beside you while birds chirp happily above you. The sun beats down on your face while a gentle breeze blows by. Everything looks calm and quiet—but your mind is racing through a list of tasks you’ve left undone, problems you can’t solve, and brokenness you can’t fix. Although you’re in a tranquil place, the sound of your own thoughts is keeping you from enjoying what’s happening around you.

What would it take for you to pause, silence the noise, and be still? 

Through stillness, we learn to pay attention to what God is doing in us and around us. But stillness is both active and passive. It involves allowing God to refocus our vision and tune our ears to His voice while we give Him the noise inside us. It requires surrendering our worries, concerns, and problems to God while allowing Him to refocus our hearts on Him. 

As we practice this spiritual habit, we become more equipped to give God glory for His power at work in our lives because we start to notice what God has already been doing in our lives. 

Action Step: Get away for a few hours this week and practice giving God whatever concerns come to mind. It’s okay if you have to do this repeatedly for a while. Just use this time to silence the noise inside you and get into the habit of making space to hear God’s voice.