Even more on prayer

When I was a teenage Christian, I picked up a pamphlet at church camp about the Christian life.  Among the advice given was "pray at least 20 minutes a day."

So at bedtime, I would say "Dear Jesus...." and look at my watch.
Pray a while, look at the watch.
Pray a while longer, look at the watch.
Pray even longer, look at the watch.  Until I hit 20 minutes.  Then I would say "Amen" and go to sleep.

Not once did I stop to listen. It was only later in life that I learned listening in silence was an important part of praying.  Sometimes we have to tune out the noise of life in order to let God breathe and speak in our lives.  And an awful lot of that noise comes from us!

In I Kings, Elijah learned this lesson.

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 

(NRSV)

Thomas Merton wrote often about the need for silence in our prayer lives.  Have you learned to quiet your mind and soul in order to let God breathe words of life to you?