Practical devotion: Jesus speaks in silence

Cover yourself each morning in a quiet silence with the Lord.

Incline your ear and come to me: listen, and your soul will live. Isaiah 55: 3 (KJV)

I sleep with my cell phone on the nightstand next to the bed. The phone acts as an alarm clock. I also use it to pay bills and to communicate via email with my employer, book editors and members of my writing club. I use my phone to promote books and book signings on social media. I use it to connect with family and friends who post occasional photos of sunny vacations, smiling grandparents, and cake recipes that will never start baking.

Although technology makes me particularly accessible to my elderly mother, I have come to a sensational conclusion. With all its beeps, beeps, and ring notifications, my cell phone is a distraction. The prophet Isaiah said it is in "stillness" that we find our strength (Isaiah 30:15, KJV). So every day after the alarm goes off, I get out of bed. I turn off the phone to pray, read a collection of devotionals, meditate on a verse from the Bible, and then sit in silence. In silence I communicate with my Creator, who possesses infinite wisdom about all things that will affect my day.

Prolonged moments of silence before the Lord are as necessary every morning as washing my face or combing my hair. In silence, Jesus speaks to my heart and I get mental clarity. In the silence of the morning, I also remember the blessings of the previous day, month or years and these precious memories feed my heart with the strength to face the current challenges. We should hide each morning in the silence of quiet time with the Lord. It is the only way to be fully clothed.

Step: Turn off your phone this morning for thirty minutes. Sit silently and ask Jesus to speak with you. Take notes and answer his call