I will be the first to admit that a little rowdy worship of the all-powerful Creator is a healing balm to my often-weary soul. Hearing the community of faith celebrate the Savior with unadulterated joy is comforting. Our passion declares our eternal hope in the Gospel of God’s grace for the undeserving. At least to our little part of the world, we are seeking to reach with God’s love. Yet, our worship and prayer does not always need to be big and loud. Prayer and worship does not need our music or even our words to be profoundly transformative and powerful. For our God thunders from Heaven with a whisper into our quiet. When was the last time any of us were quiet?
Therefore, from time to time, it is appropriate and spiritually necessary to turn everything down and experience God in silence. This not only takes patience, but practice. We have become busy as a culture with so much continual input, that we have become dull of hearing. Why? Not because we are not listening, but because we are listening to noise all the time. Our senses are tired. We lack the needed sensitivity to hear the little things. You and I have a level of cultural and actual white noise we have become accustomed to, and it often drowns out the voice of God. God did not speak to Elijah from the rock-wrecking wind, an earthquake, or the fire. God’s voice was heard in the low whisper or still small voice that calls to us moment by moment, even now. (See 1 Ki 19:11ff)
Worshiping in the silence assumes we will also be silent. That means not yacking our jaws at God, but humbly and quietly sitting before His throne of grace as we seek help in our time of need. (See Hebrews 4:16) It is more challenging than you think. For we all have some personal noise that we need to contend with too. Our internal dialog can often keep us focused on listening. Our list of worries, fears, and chores is enough to derail our quiet time, every time. Paul said we are to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5b). Time in silence can be some of our most dynamic worship.