Sunday, 2nd Week: Prayer and Solitude Help Us Listen to God

"If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not also give us everything else?  Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?" Romans 8:31-34

Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, "Prove that you are a good person." Another voice says, "You'd better be ashamed of   yourself." There also is a voice that says, "Nobody really cares about you," and one that says, "Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful." But underneath all these often very noisy voices a still, small voice that says, "You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you." That's the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.

That's what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us, "my Beloved."

"Lord, God, help me to learn to hear your voice within."

Henri Nouwen