YOU NEED TO STOP TALKING SO MUCH

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10 NKJV).

A few weeks ago while thinking about how I could implement the first part of that verse into my life, I came to the place in my prayerful meditation about the statement, “Be still.” I prayed something like this, “Lord, how am I supposed to apply this in my life?” and very quickly the answer came. “You need to stop talking so much when you pray; you need to learn to listen.”

I immediately began to respond by saying, “But, Lord, it’s me!” and then I cut off the statement before I got it finished. I realized He already knew who was praying and that’s why He said what He did. I was being corrected by a loving Father.

Psalm 46:10 commands us to “Be still.” What does that mean to us? This instruction is not given to restrict our activity but, rather, to represent a spiritual disposition that should be evident in God’s people. The word that is translated “be still” is the Hebrew word raphah which means to “sink down, to relax, to let drop, to be quiet, to relax your hands.”

In Scripture, hands are often a metaphorical symbol of power. The Scripture here is teaching us to stop trying to make things happen through our own initiative. Again, let me say, this Scripture does not restrict our mobility but does instruct us not to jump into action until God goes to work. I have learned that by watching people’s hands I can often tell if they are under pressure or gripped by tension. If they are tense, they often will show it by the way they hold their hands or clench their fists. The phrase often used to describe this is “wringing of the hands.”

Understanding the command to be still forces us to come to grips with the reality that “He is God and we are not.” If we can accept that powerful statement, then we can relax our hands and chill out because His is in charge. When we finally discover how to “be still” we learn to walk in trust without trying to operate in our own power. I am not fully there yet but I’m gaining ground every day.

In Mark 4:35-41 Jesus taught this principle of “be still” to the disciples. Here’s the story. Jesus had been teaching groups of people all day long by the Sea of Galilee. At the end of the day Jesus said to the disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side” (4:35). Then Jesus and His group got into a small boat that would take them across the Sea of Galilee. It had been a busy day and the Lord lay down in the boat and went to sleep. While he was sleeping, a big storm blew in. The disciples began to panic, so they awoke Jesus, crying, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

What happens next is as much directed to the disciples as it is to the storm, because the disciples initiated Jesus’ response. Jesus arose from where He had been lying and spoke sternly, “Peace, be still!” (4:40). Let me say again that this was as much for the disciples as it was for the storm because He then turned and spoke directly to them, “Why are you are so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

It was a slow process for the disciples (and the same for us) to learn to “be still.” They had worked themselves into anxiety and a fear that they were about to die. These were the men who had walked and lived with Jesus for years; they had seen the miracles, they had heard Him teach but it had not fully dawned on them, yet, that He was God’s Son. They had not learned to walk in trust and faith. It would come—but it wasn’t there yet.

God’s people who have learned to “be still” have learned to walk in trust, in faith. Those who are “still” are actively following the Lord’s commands and are busy doing His work, but not by their own effort.

Some of the most creative ideas the Lord has ever given to me have come when I was in the stillness of being in His presence. One of those creative thoughts came to me during my prayer time one morning about ten years ago. I was surprised at this notion but I shared it with the person I was supposed to. Now ten years later that quiet moment idea from heaven is being used to minister daily to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

Is your prayer time full of only your conversation, so full that He can’t get a word in edgewise? If so, then you need to heed the command to “be still.” Let’s work on it together.