Student Topic 3

Lately, through individual time with the Lord and group Bible studies, I have been smacked in the face with how much my prayer life is a mess. In both my Bible studies over the past week we examined our prayer life and how building our lives on the foundation of God's promises would dramatically change our prayer lives. It would be minimizing the influence God has in our lives to chalk this up to coincidence. In each session I kept thinking back to class when Dr. Redick said that sitting in silence with someone you are comfortable with should not be awkward. We shouldn't always need to say something and often times you can have your most intimate moments while sitting in silence. After reflecting on how prayer and silence go hand and hand, it was really convicting to think about how most of the time my prayers turn into nothing more reflecting rambling about things as insignificant as the weather. I talk and talk, not even about the big things in my life, and never keep quiet long enough to listen. This type of silence isn't just a silencing of the mouth, but a stilling of the heart and learning to be able to sit in the presence of the Lord and simply be in awe of how good he is. This kind of kenosis could drastically change my prayer life and subsequently how I live my daily routines. Just like Dr. Redick knew that nothing needed to be said when the woman in the coffee shop was crying, there is a time to come before the throne room boldly and there is a time to approach it in stillness.