Every day, I look up at the sky for fifteen minutes and try and connect with God. It is my way of practising the discipline of silence.
But even when the world is quiet, I am the noisiest person in the universe. My internal noise drowns all quiet. My brain just doesn’t stop.
Welcome to the second in this short series on prayer – this time on ‘Praying when you feel empty’.
This week, Premier Christian Radio invited me to give three short broadcasts on the topic of prayer, as they marked, with prayer, the transition from Ascension to Pentecost, supporting the Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative.
When you have no voice, you are entirely dependent on other people’s willingness to listen to you.
When you have no voice, every single time you strain your body to whisper, there is a cost. You only speak because you absolutely have to speak.
When you have no voice, it is a very lonely experience. People stop asking your opinion, because they know you can’t answer back.
I didn’t understand. From age 11 through to age 14 and beyond, I didn’t understand how people who claimed to follow the same God as me could have such a radically different view of His purpose and plan. God stood, distant and cold, behind a dark cloud of resentment, anger, and confusion. And I gave up on Him.
I’ve learnt that while God is sometimes silent, He is never absent. He chose to remain silent over our prayers for a child, but He was always present with us—even when we couldn’t feel it. And I’ve learnt that a greater tragedy than a broken dream is a life forever defined by one.
I cried because I love blogging, and it’s such a lifeline – and I cried because at the same time a part of my soul leapt and said, ‘yes, I need rest’
Elora Ramirez is a remarkable woman, full of passion and compassion. She is the founder of The Story Unfolding (offering story coaching and the excellent Story 101 and Story 201 online writing courses I’ve been enjoying), and the author of Every Shattered Thing, which I reviewed earlier. Her writing is fire and beauty, and I […]
Yesterday, in the silence of the house, I could hear the rain softly falling, dibble-dabbling on the ground. It was the soundtrack to my day. I had walked past the bedroom – and felt the absence of my boys. I walked to the bathroom, and saw a small pair of pyjamas on the nappy changing […]
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Tanya Marlow blogs on the Bible, suffering and the messy edges of life [read more]