Prayer In A Noisy World, Matthew 6:6

Dan Doyle

Noise. It is the reality of the world that we live in. We live in an environment of noise: car horns, traffic, sirens, commercial jets overhead, TV, the internet, and social media. It is not just the outside noise that surrounds us as a constant distraction; it also enters the interior spaces of our homes and even invades the silent spaces inside our own heads. We have become so accustomed to it, or might we say, addicted to it, that we often feel terribly uncomfortable with silence, even unnerved by it. How might this, then, affect our prayer lives?

The cell phone, computer, even our watches now enable us to be “connected,” “available,” even “followed,” twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. For example, have you ever been out walking in the natural beauty of a city park, on a trail in the woods, or down by the beach and been passed by people wearing headphones, listening to music, an audiobook, or some podcast yammering away about who knows what, missing the sounds of birds, the waves at the shoreline, or the wind in the trees? Why is silence so uncomfortable to us? How often do you see people staring at their phones while walking, waiting in line, or sitting with others at tables in restaurants who are also on their phones? Noise and distraction have become common in our modern world, a constant presence in our lives, both externally and internally.

While, at some level, prayer is natural, even spiritually instinctual, it is not easy. It requires our fullest attention, our physical, mental, and spiritual presence. It is even harder when everything around us is constantly distracting us with physical or mental ‘noise,’ preventing us from entering wholly, attentively into the space of silence. Silence and solitude make true, effective, meaningful prayer possible. We need silence. It enables one to be present to God and to his Word. We need silence to begin to know ourselves, listen attentively to God, and to contemplate his Word in our hearts.

Jesus understood the need for silence and solitude in his prayer life. How often do we see him going off by himself to pray in the scriptures? Knowing this, he has counseled us to do the same. “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Mt. 6:6). Might it be time for us to practice putting everything on silent mode? Wouldn’t it be an adventure to turn off our phones, the TV, our computers/tablets, headphones, social media, and relearn the power of silence to reveal the beauty of the natural world and to experience the joy of deepening our personal relationship with the One Who Is the Source and Goal of all that is really good, true, and beautiful once again?

Prayer, ultimately, is God’s personal invitation to us to be more fully alive. We are called to do three things in our prayer lives: Listen, contemplate, and then, let our contemplations turn into true conversion of heart, mind, and soul. We need silence and solitude to do these things. Real listening is not easy. It takes real concentration and energy. To listen carefully demands our fullest attention. It is hard work, especially when we are constantly competing with both exterior and internal noise. This is why prayer, like the skill of an athlete, needs much practice.

The second element of prayer is to take the focused time to contemplate the purpose and meaning of God’s words for us and our lives, those words that are whispered into our hearts, either directly, or through the prism of Sacred Scripture. That is yet another kind of hard work, but like all hard work that accomplishes its end, it has its rewards. If we listen with an open mind and heart; if we have entered into the hard work of contemplation with humility, “Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward us with a multiplicity of graces, like deep solace and peace.

Prayer done in true silence and solitude can bring about the third element, the ultimate purpose of prayer, conversion. This is not just an intellectual conversion, but the kind of conversion that leads us to courageously live our faith openly and confidently, loving others in the manner that Jesus modeled to us, even to the point of self-sacrifice in the face of all of the noise, distraction, and threat that might be brought against us.

Lord, help us to desire and enter into true silence more often. Give us the inner strength to put all the sources of noise in our lives into silent mode, so we can be more truly present to you in our prayer life. We pray, as always, in Jesus’ name. Amen.