François Fénelon
How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak!
Exodus 15:26
Listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes...pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees...
1 Kings 19:11-13 (ESV)
The Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him...
C.H. Spurgeon
Be quiet, be quiet, and let Jesus speak. Let His wounds speak to you; let His death speak to you; let His resurrection speak to you; let His ascension and His glory speak to you; and let the trumpet of His second advent ring in your ears.
A.B. Simpson
Those who abide in Christ have the habit of reserve and quiet; they are not rattling and reckless talkers, they will not always have an opinion about everything - and they will not always know what they are going to do. There will be a deferential holding back of judgment and walking softly with God. It is our headlong, impulsive spirit that keeps us so constantly from hearing and following the Lord.
J. C. Ryle
We spend our spiritual strength and forget to renew it. We multiply engagements and curtail prayer. We work when we ought to pray, because to an active mind work is far easier than prayer. The servant whom the Holy Spirit is to use must resist the tyranny of overwork. He must resolve to be alone with God...
Lewis Sperry Chafer
When led of the Spirit, the child of God must be as ready to wait as to go; as prepared to be silent as to speak.
A.W. Tozer
Renewed Day by Day
There is a kind of school where the soul must go to learn its best eternal lessons. It is the school of silence. "Be still and know," (Psalm 46:10) said the psalmist. It might well be a revelation to some Christians if they were to get completely quiet for a time - a time to listen in the silence for the voice of the Eternal God!
“God’s Faithful Voice”
The voice of God is a quiet voice. The voice of God's love and grace is constant - never strident, never compulsive. God has sent His messengers to every generation. He has spoken urgently and faithfully through His prophets; through the concerns of preachers and evangelists; even through the sweet voices of the gospel singers. Further, God has spoken through witnessing men and women: plain, sincere, loving men and women transformed by a spiritual birth which is from above. This is the voice of God we hear in this day of grace - the voice of the Savior calling wandering sinners home.
The Set of the Sail
A closed mouth before God and a silent heart are indispensable for the reception of (His) truth. No man is qualified to speak who has not first listened. It might well be a wonderful revelation to some Christians if they were to get completely quiet for a short time, long enough to get acquainted with their own souls, and to listen in the silence for the voice of the Eternal God.
Among the enemies to devotion none is so harmful as distractions. Whatever excites the curiosity, scatters the thoughts, disquiets the heart, absorbs the interests or shifts our life focus from the kingdom of God within us to the world around us--that is a distraction; and the world is full of them. Our science-based civilization has given us many benefits, but it has multiplied our distractions...Distractions must be conquered or they will conquer us. So let us cultivate simplicity; let us want fewer things; let us walk in the Spirit; let us fill our minds with the Word of God and our hearts with praise. In that way we can live in peace even in such a distraught world as this. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." (John 14:27)
WARNING
George Bowen Daily Meditations, 1873
The most fearful and also the most shameful condition into which a moral being can fall, the lowest depth that he can reach, is that in which his heart becomes unable to distinguish the voice of God…all the day long, in one way or another, God speaks; but he hears not.