When were you last filled with awe? When did you something last move you so powerfully that you were literally lost for words? When did an experience so overwhelm you with wonder that you felt yourself to have glimpsed something of God? The following session, taken from my book Daily Prayer 2, asks such questions and explores the sort of response such moments call us to.
Awed into silence
Read
When in the presence of God, avoid being over-hasty to speak, in a hurry to blurt out whatever comes into your mind. Given that God is in heaven and you are on earth, let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2
Ponder
Just occasionally in life we encounter something that awes us into silence. Perhaps it’s the sight of a mountain range soaring towards the heavens, or a magnificent view from some lofty peak. Perhaps it’s a mighty waterfall cascading over a precipice, or crashing waves whipped up by a storm. Perhaps it’s the sight of an eclipse, or the stars twinkling brightly in the night sky. Or perhaps it’s some astonishing act of courage or kindness. Whatever it is, it takes our breath away, leaving us for a moment too stunned to speak, overwhelmed by the spectacle. Nothing we might say could do justice to how we are feeling. No superlatives, however we might pile them up, could begin to articulate our sense of amazement and delight. Words literally fail us. Quiet reflection seems the only proper response.
So it should be, says the writer of Ecclesiastes, when it comes to God. Of course words have their place in relation to him, but they have their limitations too. Not only can they never be sufficient, but they can get in the way if we imagine they can say all that needs saying, express the praise and worship that is due to him or sum up the way we want to respond. There are times when we need simply to be still and quiet before him; when – to borrow the words of Charles Wesley – we instinctively fall silent, ‘Lost in wonder, love, and praise.’ Never lose that sense of awe. Never let yourself become so comfortable and cosy with God that you fail to recognise that he is in heaven and you are on earth, that his ways are not your ways nor his thoughts your thoughts. Don’t feel you must always respond to him using words, for silence can speak more eloquently than all of them put together.
Ask yourself
When were you last awed into silence, and what by? What things do you struggle to find words to describe? Do you feel that same sense of awe before God?
Pray
Mighty God, language fails me in your presence, for you are above all, before all, beyond all; greater than I can begin to imagine; Lord of heaven and earth; ever good, ever loving, ever true. I try to express my praise through words, but they do not suffice, for they barely scratch the surface and leave out more than they can say. So, instead, I will make time for silence, time to be still in your presence and simply to know that you are God – to catch my breath in wonder and kneel in reverence. I offer you my words; I offer you my silence; I offer my awestruck worship; in the name of Christ. Amen.
Remember
When praying, do not pile up empty words in the way the Gentiles do, imagining they will be heard because of their eloquence. Matthew 6:7
Close
Teach me, Lord, to stand silently in your presence, and quietly to marvel, to rejoice and to give thanks. Amen.