David Powlison writes about verbal prayer asking: Should we really call it a “quiet” time?
So the standard practice for both public and private prayer is to speak so as to be heard by the Person with whom you are talking. Prayer is verbal because it is relational.
…I’ve known many people whose relationship with God was significantly transformed as they started to speak up with their Father. Previously, “prayer” fizzled out in the internal buzz of self-talk and distractions, worries and responsibilities. Previously, what they thought of as prayer involved certain religious feelings, or a set of seemingly spiritual thoughts, or a vague sense of comfort, awe, and dependency on a higher power. Prayer meandered, and was virtually indistinguishable from thoughts, sometimes indistinguishable from anxieties and obsessions. But as they began to talk aloud to the God who is there, who is not silent, who listens, and who acts, they began to deal with him person-to-person.
Powlinson surveys Biblical examples of prayer and concludes that contemplative practices like “listening prayer” or “centering prayer” are never taught in the Bible. (“Never” is a bit strong, as he also admits. e.g. Ps. 46:10.)
The main thrust of the article is that “God is profoundly and essentially verbal” because (I would add) God is profoundly and essentially relational. God is not triune to sit in silence with himself. Nor does he speak his Word to us so that we never utter a word to him.
With that being said, silence, reflection and contemplation point us toward prayer. “The true God quiets us so we notice him” (Powlinson, ibid.). Quietness creates a reverent space for us to personally offer to God our heart, building a relationship that he so graciously initiated with us through his first words to us.
Comment (1)
I was, rather, looking for Scripture to explain this point, rather than someone leaning on their own understanding. :)