The following excerpt is from Vantage Point: A New View of Rest, Rhythm and the Work of God by Brenda Jank.

God speaks to us through creation. He speaks to us through His Word. He speaks to quiet hearts. (Busy hearts, too, but the reception can be fuzzy.)

When I was little, I was baffled – baffled by Jesus’ desire to pray. “Why would Jesus want to pray?” Prayer was about getting stuff. “He was God,” I reasoned. “Jesus didn’t need anything.”

Jesus needed nothing. Jesus desired the presence of His Father.

Do you think he was homesick? Maybe. Am I ever homesick? Do I ever long for the presence of my Father?

Over the years, prayer for me has moved (and is moving) from getting things to getting God.

Part of that journey includes dialogue – embracing a relational attitude to prayer. It’s about learning to listen to God, not only in His Word (which is primary), but how to listen to God in stillness.

For me, listening to God in prayer is attending to His Presence. It is being still. It is knowing He is present. It is entering into a stillness that is quiet enough to hear His heartbeat and His song. It is where I feel most deeply loved.

Zephaniah 3:17 NIV rises up to spotlight this truth.

The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Stillness reminds me I occupy a treasured place in the heart of God. This promise is found in Psalm 46:10a NIV.

Be still, and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10a NIV

In stillness, God reveals Himself to me. I cannot see God. I cannot hear God. I cannot feel God.

But I can know God. And in knowing God, He assures me of my identity, directs my footsteps and shapes my heart’s desires.