How Do We Find God?

“Listen and hear my voice; pay attention, and hear my speech.”—Isaiah 28:23

We often are deaf to God’s presence, loving inspirations, guidance, tenderness, and mercy because of the noise around us and inside us. Create your own space for silence where you can be alone and quiet today. Let God find you there in the silence. Shut out the external noise, as well as the noise inside you, and listen carefully. God’s voice is like a gentle, peaceful breeze. Be silent, for silence is the language of God. We think of prayer as speaking to God, but if it’s real communication, then we have to give God a chance to speak, to inspire, to heal, to guide, to forgive, and to help us. Mother Teresa wrote: “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is a friend of silence. See how mature the trees, the flowers, and the grass have grown in silence. See the stars, the moon, and the sun—how they move in silence. We need silence.” Take some quiet time, and in that silence find God—or let God find you.

Lord, help me to encounter you in the language of silence. Amen.

 —from the book Three Minutes with God: Reflections and Prayers to Encourage, Inspire, and Motivate
by Monsignor Frank Bognanno