The Power of Silence in Prayer

Me: God, you’ve been quiet lately.

God: Maybe you should be too.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Luke 22:31-32

What does this scripture have to do with silence? Let’s explore a few things about it first.

“Simon, Simon, behold,”

Throughout this section of Luke 22, Jesus urgently presses the disciples to be vigilant, focused, and prayerful about what will come next. But they end up being everything but those things. Their perspectives of God’s will are misaligned, which likely contributes to their subsequent spiritual failure.

“Peter had been sleeping when he should have been praying, talking when he should have been listening, and boasting when he should have been fearing. Now he was fighting when he should have been surrendering.” -Warren Wiersbe

This is made evident in v50. Peter’s attempt to defend Jesus is a swing and a miss both

-literally: it’s likely his sword’s target was a more vital body part of a more prominent person in the crowd… versus the ear of a slave

-and figuratively: this battle Jesus is preparing them for isn’t an arms race).

“Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,”

Satan had to seek God’s permission to test the apostles. Yes, satan, the enemy of God, still needs God’s permission to do his work. God allows this test to proceed, as God tests the faith of those whom he loves in order to strengthen that faith (Rev 3:19). 

And so this dynamic makes me wonder what battles we’re fighting using misaligned perspectives (and sometimes the enemy’s own devices), while still also asking for God’s power to save us or make things better? Have we ever attempted to solve problems through sin or gain insight through demonic methods?

It’s like attempting to light a fire by doing the very things that would put it out.

So consider this instead: through spiritual disciplines like prayer (that will be my focus here), we can know God’s will, access God’s power, and our hearts are transformed to be like his.

“but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

Jesus intercedes on the apostles’ behalf by praying for their restoration of faith after failure. First for Peter’s restoration (“I have prayed for you [Peter]”), and then for the restoration of the other disciples through Peter, sanctioning his leadership of the church (even in knowing how hard he’d fall first).

If you don’t get anything else from what I say, get this: don’t underestimate the power of prayer. 

The world and the devil will make you think the most powerful tool in your artillery for life is your money/intellect/influence/accomplishments… And so you may be led to believe that God’s gaze on you is manifested in how he can grant you those things. 

But in all points of Jesus’s ministry, in the highs and lows, in the fiercest battles, and ahead of facing the very purpose he walked the earth for, he’s praying for God’s will and the strength to obey it, however that may look. Jesus never stops interceding on our behalf. We should never stop interceding for our circumstances and those of others.

This is made so evident in v43. This verse kinda makes you think he couldn’t go to the cross without first stopping to pray, as an angel subsequently appears, to strengthen him to follow through with the Father’s will. Back up: v39, Jesus urges the disciples to pray so that they won’t be tempted to run from God’s will. But the apostles don’t pray, and so they do fall into temptation.

It’s not to say those earthly things listed earlier don’t matter (to a certain extent), but it’s how we pray about them that matters significantly more.

Prayer is a pause for station identification.

A clearinghouse for processing the deposits made into our lives (good and bad). 

A charging station for the power of God within us. 

It’s fellowship. 

It’s partnership.

It’s a transformational experience for our hearts, minds, and circumstances.

In prayer, we don’t just lift our petitions to heaven. We pull heaven into our petitions for its power and perspective.

The impact of prayer is more profound with the greater persistence of time, space, and place we give God to move in it.

So how have I recently assessed how I can give more of myself toward prayer? 

I’ve realized that change doesn’t come from just identifying the action I’m not doing (like not praying/reading the Bible/meditating in those moments), but also identifying the behaviors that preclude me from fully investing in those disciplines…

-like snoozing for an extra 5 minutes even when I know they won’t work the wonders I wish they would

-like endlessly scrolling on my phone, consuming time that’s better spent praying or truly resting or getting good work done

…And then submitting them to God in prayer, so that I can partner with him to overcome them, not just by my own will-power and positive thinking (which will fail me at some point), but through the strength of the Holy Spirit.

In fact, let’s pray now!

Dear God,

Help me to prioritize seeking your face without fail, and to see it. Help me to dedicate proper time and space for your replies. Help me meditate on your revealed truth. Help me to discern and remove the noise of counterfeit revelation that I’ve surrounded myself with.

Mold my heart to be a resting place for your wisdom, as I know that things of value are not placed on unsteady surfaces.

I pray this in the name of Jesus, my eternal intercessor. Amen