Quiet

​Step #1: Lectio / Read

Click the link below or open your Bible to the passage and read through the reading at least once, paying attention to what is happening in the text.

1 Kings 19:19A, 11-16

---

​Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

​Today's first reading is one of my favorites in all of the Old Testament because it very clearly speaks to us about who God is and how He works. In this reading, we encounter Elijah who is in the midst of a very difficult time. In this difficulty, Elijah goes looking for the Lord and is looking for God to speak in a big, booming voice. When Elijah finally finds God, though, as we heard, God is not in the heavy wind, the earthquake, or the fire; God is only found by Elijah in the tiny, whispering wind. 

It almost feels as I've been praying through this reading like there is nothing much more to say. The lesson is simple: God is speaking. Too often, we don't hear God because we're listening for Him to move mountains and speak in a big, booming voice, and we're not quiet enough, not still enough, and not listening hard enough to hear Him in the way He wants to speak. 

At the end of the day, we have a God who is constantly speaking to our hearts. He speaks in the silence, in the tenderness and the love that only He knows. When we're tired, hurting, desperate, happy, angry, sad, excited, and everything in between, our God is a God who is speaking. Our God is not a God who is silent and leave us, He is a God who is active and working in our lives. We need to learn, each and every day, by taking time to be silent and pray, that God is speaking and that He can be heard if we learn to find Him in the silence. 

Today, this week, this month, and the rest of your life: take time to be quiet. You'll be surprised how clear God's voice comes when you learn to hear Him in the whispering wind.

---

​Step #3: Oratio / Pray

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

Do I listen for God in the quiet or do I just get frustrated when He isn't speaking loudly?

Do I give time to God to speak in the silence of my life?

Can I silence the things and voices in my life long enough to listen to God begin to speak in the quiet?

---

Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

"Here I am Lord."

"I love you Lord."

"I trust you in the quiet."

---

Step #5: Actio / Act

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?

Spend some time in the quiet today. Set a timer on your phone for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes, then put your phone in airplane mode, turn off the ringer, close the door to your room, and sit in the quiet. When distracting thoughts come, give those to the Lord. Listen to the ways He's speaking to you in the quiet of your life. 

---

Smartphone Lock Screen

The following image is here for you to save and use as a background or lock screen on your smartphone or device to help you carry today's Lectio Divina with you the rest of the day.

---

"Today's prayer was prepared by Jason Theobald, Executive Director of Carpe Verbum.

If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called ""Prayers"" and let us know how we can pray for you today. "