Prayer #3 – Silence

Prayer #3 – Silence

A few years back I went to Taize with some friends. I loved it there, but one thing I struggled with at first were the times of silence. A key part of the prayer times is the invitation to spend a few minutes silently with your own thoughts. As the week goes on, the time increases.For the first few days I found it near impossible. I"m a person who is always on the go, and stopping doesn"t always come naturally. By the end of the week though, I loved it. I found the silence peaceful, reflective and incredibly helpful.We live in a world that isn"t tuned for silence. It"s just not normal to us. Some people even like to listen to music while they"re going to sleep. This constant noise means that we lose out on a chance to reflect in what can be a very powerful way.Reflective times of silence can be a great way to help your youth group to pray. So, if you"re looking for a new approach to prayer time, maybe this might work. Not all of them will get it, and at first it will be tough. That"s why you should start slowly. Maybe the first few times, even as little as 3-4 minutes, and then you can crank it up after that. Eventually they might get a lot out from even as much as 10-15 minutes of silence.If you want to do this, explain that silence can be very powerful and beautiful.It might help to give them some suggested things to reflect on, but it"s generally best to leave it open. Tell the young people that if they try to clear their minds it can be fascinating to see what flows in. This can lead into prayer quite naturally. By creating peace, stillness and emptiness, it can make people feel closer to God and more aware of his presence. This helps both the asking and listening aspects of prayer.[image hotlinked from flickr user Anders Printz]', 0, 146