Fight the noise and get alone with God in silence
Why was quiet and solitude so central for Jesus and why does he instruct us to live likewise? At Limitless Festival, Tim Alford explored the power of silence in a world of noise.
In 2007 a digital revolution began. The first iPhone launched, closely followed by Facebook and Android. Within ten years we had Kindle, Twitter, the Cloud, the App Store and more, and ever since our lives have revolved around smartphones, apps and the internet.
But with this revolution came major threats, which Tim Alford explored at Limitless Festival. We have become distracted and addicted to our devices, he says, with apps designed to consume as much time and attention as possible.
“We find ourselves hooked into a world of constant stimulation and ceaseless noise. This total absence of quiet has worrying consequences.
“As our digital consumption increases, so does our susceptibility to mental health issues. We’re becoming more distracted and less able to focus, with attention spans now at a record low of eight seconds.”
It poses a big risk to our spiritual lives too. “The greatest threat to faith today is not hedonism but distraction,” says Tim. According to CS Lewis, “the way the enemy will rob you of a dynamic life with God is to make your life as noisy as possible and prevent you from ever entering into silence.”
“If you want to step into the abundant life that Jesus came to give you, you must learn how to fight the noise and distraction and regularly get alone with God in silence.”
This is a lifestyle Jesus modelled, beginning with 40 days in the desert then regular prayer in solitary places throughout his ministry. Jesus invites us to do likewise, says Tim.
Four reasons why silence changes lives
1. Solitude is the place of encounter
“God is the friend of silence, so if you were to ask, ‘why do I rarely seem to hear from God?’ I would first ask how regularly you’re spending time alone with him in silence,” says Tim.
The question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are quiet enough to hear him. “Brendan Manning says our busy world too often makes us deaf to the voice of God who speaks to us in the silence. And so we enter into silence to train ourselves to be with God and tune our ears to the Spirit.”
2. Solitude is the place of peace
Psalm 23 declares: “He leads me beside quiet waters and restores my soul.” One purpose of intentionally seeking external quiet is to cultivate internal quiet, says Tim.
The trouble is, if we remove external noise, internal noise bubbles up in its place. “The subdued anger, hidden resentment, unforgiveness, lust, discontent, doubt, uncertainty, anxiety – the deep things of our inner lives we’ve drowned out with noise.”
Tim experienced this during a five-day silent retreat. “I realised that if we can learn to sit with God in the reality of our inner life for long enough and outlast the boredom and distraction, then over time the quiet we’ve created in our external world starts to become a reality in our internal world.”
3. Solitude is the place of battle
Off the west coast of Ireland is a remote island called Skellig Michael. More than 1,000 years ago, Celtic monks built a monastery there. Why? To pray against the forces of darkness entering Ireland and the rest of Europe, says Tim.
“The Pope would write letters to them and say thank you for keeping us safe from the devil. Silence and solitude, then, is not a private, therapeutic place. It’s where we go to fight evil inside and outside of us.
“No wonder your enemy wants your life to be as noisy as possible. He’s frightened of what you might do to him if you have a practice of silence and solitude.”
4. Solitude is the place of transformation
Youthscape’s Martin Saunders says, “When we’re practicing silence and listening, we cannot fail but be transformed through sheer exposure to God.”
“We’re more in tune with God’s heart for the world. We naturally become more gentle, sensitive and caring. We’re less distracted, fidgety and agitated,” adds Tim.
“Solitude helps us de-programme some of the junk that modern life puts into us. That process changes us for the better and has a ripple effect on those around us.”
We must seek silence because our lives depend on it. “Do you know what a powerful witness for the gospel is the person with a quiet soul in an anxious world?
“For the benefit of your own spiritual life and the good of people around you, I encourage you to make it your goal to lead a quiet life,” Tim concludes.
The power of silence in 5 quotes
Without silence it’s virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. — Henry Nouwen
We live in a culture increasingly without faith, not because science has somehow disproved the unprovable but because the white noise of secularism has removed the very stillness out of which it might endure or be reborn. — Andrew Sullivan
We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. — Mother Teresa
I cannot emphasise too strongly how important it is for your spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing that you learn to silence the world’s relentless chatter for a few minutes each day to become still in the depths of your soul. — Pete Greig
Be still and know that I am God. — Psalm 46
This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.