On Prayer as Listening

God wants to speak to us more than we want to speak to Him.  What if prayer were listening more than speaking?

Jesus was always referring to those who had "ears to hear."  Where do those "ears" originate?  How do you get them?

One thing I learned when studying Second Language Acquistion is that there is a "voice" in our heads---the Language Center of the brain---that never stops, that is impossible to shut off.  Because we are always talking to ourselves in our heads, it is very difficult to "be still and know that [I] am God." So when we come to prayer, it is easier for us to do all the talking than to just open our hearts and ears to hear what God wants to say.

For years, I thought the Rosary was but endless repetition, and I had a difficult time seeing it as prayer,  Now, however, I see it as a way to occupy the Language Center of the brain so that God has a chance to still our anxious thoughts and to infuse a little peace into our lives.  It is a way of "being still."

Another way I have found to be still is to read the Bible with a little curiosity as to what the Spirit wants to teach me, beginning with a prayer before I open it, that the Spirit would direct my reading and my understanding.  Most of us "tackle" the Bible as a reading assignment to be understood---but if we approach it as a way to open our ears to what God is saying to us, it becomes a different experience altogether. 

The Bible was not written as a "book," as it appears today.  Rather, it is a "library" of books, written at different times by different authors.  So sitting in a room with 73 books, we might choose one to browse through, stopping mid-way to read something that catches our eye.  The Bible does not have to be read from cover to cover.  Instead, it is a wonderful way to sit, to be still, to allow the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts and reading, much as would a teacher in a classroom.

When we come to prayer each day as a way to stop, to be still, to listen to the voice of God, it becomes a different experience.  Yesterday, I wrote about being present to the person and circumstances around us, about being non-judmental, and about giving the HOly Spirit space to work creatively.  The same attitude helps us to pray as listeners instead of as speakers.  I occasionally imagine myself sitting in a classroom, waiting for the teacher to tell me to open my book to page x and to begin reading. 

The most amazing thing in the world is to experience God speaking to us, directing our thoughts, and giving us the things we can never give ourselves, no matter how much "talking to ourselves" we do.