From a book, ‘The Power of Stillness:’ comes an insight as to how prayer works. . .
“A great deal of suffering might be allayed if we created more compassionate space to hold sincere questions, within ourselves and within our larger communities (family, ward, and stake). Individually and collectively we can “fear not” when faced with unresolved questions. Instead we can breathe deep. Relax. And get curious.
But oh, that space is not easy when we want to figure it all out, right? Are we really willing to wait—if that’s what clarity means? As an ancient philosopher Lao Tsu writes, “Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?”4
As challenging as it can be to not seem to be receiving anything back from God in prayer, Adam Miller proposes this as a pivotal moment: “When this happens, you’ll have to make a choice. You’ll have to decide whether to get up and leave the room or whether to continue in silence. If the latter, “You may discover that God’s silence is not itself a rebuke, but an invitation. The heavens aren’t empty, they’re quiet. And God, rather than turning you away, may be inviting you to share this silence with him. This is part of what atonement looks like: sitting in shared silence with God.5
One new mother who began to feel deep concern around a certain …question… shared her concerns with her husband. Rather than try to “figure it out” and make it go away, they decided to make space around it and be patient. They chose to hold the questions in a sacred space and wait for further light and knowledge to come as they continued to look to the prophets and follow the Lord as best they knew how. When peace and understanding did come, although some questions remained, the inquiry became more infused with assurance, patience, and a sense of God’s love. ~Jacob Z. Hess, Carrie L. Skarda, Kyle D. Anderson, Ty R. Mansfield ~The Power of Stillness (Deseret Book Company, 2019), 80-81
4. Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching (Fifteen), translation by Stephen Mitchell (New York: Harper Perennial, 1994),17.
5. Adam S, Miller, Letters to a young Mormon, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017), 32, 35-36.
(Posts with a preamble asterisk * are for a more general audience, and not specific to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
