“’Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46:10-11)

Years ago, my husband worked in a cultural program for college freshmen. For one assignment, they went into the woods at night and each person stood still and quiet where he or she could not see anyone else. This was the first time in 18 years many of them had experienced stillness.

In today’s culture, hundreds of sounds clamor for our attention. We communicate with everyone except God. But who knows us better than our Creator? He tells us exactly what we need to do. He commands, “Be still.” When we obey His command, we are ready to obey and contemplate the second command: “Know that I am God.” And we discover Him in all His glory.

God is God, so far above us we can never truly understand Him. But when we are still we can ponder His plan; we can hear His voice; we can let His Holy Spirit show us our world from God’s viewpoint. Then we are ready to pray as He wants us to pray—to praise, confess, and lay our problems at His feet.