If there is a common affliction in our culture, it is the affliction of business. We all like to be busy and moments of solitude can be uncomfortable to the point we try to avoid them at all costs. There is constant activity in our brain and what we don’t deal with during our waking hours is often transferred to our subconsciousness during sleep. 

In our current series we are moving through the Lord’s Prayer and while it doesn’t explicitly tell us to slow down and listen to God, the context of Luke’s version is Jesus off in a quiet place praying when the disciples asked him to teach them to pray. The example of Jesus in prayer is to be quiet, slow down and listen to the father. This Sunday we will see that Christian meditation as an effective element of prayer. Christian meditation is vastly different from other forms of meditation as seen in the religion of yoga where meditation is the emptying of the mind. Christian meditation is replacing our troubling brain activity with the knowledge of God as revealed in His word. Christian meditation requires being informed with God’s Word first and as we mull over what we read, we can process our circumstances in a spiritually healthy way. Christian meditation requires some level of solitude to block out the noise of the world and to hear the voice of God. There is a place for praying as we move throughout the day, but there is a need to hit the pause button, slow down so we can listen to God in prayer. Prayer is a two-way conversation between us and God. Unfortunately, many times we dominate the conversation, not giving God a chance to speak and be heard. When you pray, slow down and listen to God.