Be Still Prayer
Week 1 – Prayer Closet
Practicing private, intentional prayer
Prayer Practice: Be Still
Day 4, Wednesday, January 7
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
—Psalm 46:10
Many of us read this passage, out of context perhaps and think that God is inviting us into a moment of relaxation. However, both times this is said in scripture, it’s a command and a rebuke. Psalm 46 paints in vivid detail a world of chaos and collapse:
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Then, nations who are waging war and full of strife:
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
It’s no wonder that when Jesus is on a boat with his disciples - and they wake him up because they fear the storm, the wind and the waves, that He uses the same language: Be Still.
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. (Mark 4:39)
How to Practice
I first discovered this prayer as a child. It was a simple prayer of my own making, “Jesus, you rebuked the wind and the waves and at your command, they went completely still. Would you rebuke the wind and the waves in me?” That’s it - a simple prayer of faith in the midst of a turbulent world. Get in your prayer closet and ask Jesus to utter His rebuke “Be still” and then, in faith, sit in the stillness of the Lord - enjoying the presence and peace of the one who holds the world in His hands.
Gentle Reminder
God doesn’t calm every storm. During one storm, Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves. During another storm, He simply walked on them and allowed the storm to rage around Him. When God doesn’t cause your storm to be still - it must be because He’s walking with you through it.
