Thoughts and feelings can whirl you away from being centered. The practice of stillness can calm the mind and bring back clarity. The Bible has verses to help us on the way.
Sometimes I feel like I am on a long bungee cord.
I run off to do this and that: ambitions, dreams, goals, demands, self-centered desires, and temptations.
I concern myself with all sorts of worries and fears. As I keep moving away from stillness, the bungee cord gets ever so slightly tighter and tighter. Eventually, I am pulled back with a twang. I look around, wonder what happened, and realize that I have moved out of that place of stillness.
I believe that the spiritual practice of stillness is one of the most difficult to learn. When you want to be still, you will soon have thoughts that lead to trails that need exploring and thinking. Suddenly, you are meandering faraway from being centered and still.
If you struggle with depression or anxiety, then the magnetic pull of those old, well-worn threads in your brain tug at you even more. They’re familiar, comfortable, normal, and oh so easy to go down.
It all began from stillness
In the beautiful poem of Genesis 1, these words commence our story:
“At the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth, when the earth was an empty void, with darkness over the face of the deep, and God’s breath sweeping over the face of the water, God said, ‘Light!’ and light came into being.” — Genesis 1:1-3 (The Bible for Everyone)
I believe that everything emerged out of stillness. The words from Genesis only capture a small snapshot of the dynamic power and beauty unleashed.
Stillness is the place of divine presence. It’s the place where God calls us back to time and time again. “Be still and know that I am God,” the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 46.
Four Bible verses on stillness
Here are four verses where we see stillness as being part of God’s plan for us:
1. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. — Exodus 14:14
Such an assurance it must have given the people of Israel as they left Egypt to go home. They didn’t need to panic or worry because God was right there with them. The invitation was simply to be still.
2. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. — Psalm 37:7
Are you ever anxious, worrying, or fretting? The Psalmist calls us to wait patiently and to adopt that deep stillness of quiet patience.
3. Be still, and know that I am God. — Psalm 46:10
A favorite verse for many when we desire a deep connection with God, who knows all.
4. He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. — Mark 4:39
A beautiful story of Jesus calming the storm. This is a powerful passage to meditate on and utilize during your own stillness practice.
How to practice stillness
1. Give yourself permission: For many of us, the hardest part is to permit ourselves to stop all activity. We so easily define ourselves by our performance, doing more and more while thinking productivity is the measurement of success. There is a still, small voice whispering an invitation to be quiet, rest, and listen—to sit at the feet of Jesus like Mary.
2. Set a time and a place: Make it a regular feature of your day or week. You are training your brain, so providing a consistent place and time creates a powerful habit. I have a seat on the deck of my home where the sun streams in. Whenever I sit there, my brain recognizes it as a sacred space for quiet stillness.
3. Use a timer: To relax totally into the moment, you don’t want to constantly check your watch. Set a quiet timer on your phone to assist you. You might like to start with five minutes and slowly work your way up to fifteen.
4. Relax your body: Find a comfortable place to sit and allow your body to release tension. Breathe slowly and deeply. Notice your breath moving in and out, giving yourself permission to be quiet. Feel that breath—blown into you by God—deep down before letting it float out.
5. Quiet your mind: When a thought slips into your mind, practice “nonjudgmental observation.” Notice the thought, accept its presence without self-condemnation, and quietly come back to being still. I often quietly anchor myself with a word like “Peace,” “Jesus,” or “Love.” Invite the Holy Spirit to sit alongside you as your teacher.
6. Focus on this moment: Be present to this very second. It’s easy to swing like a pendulum between past regrets and future worries. Being still is practicing the presence of the now.
7. Visualize: Take your mind to a place of quiet beauty and divine presence. Envelope yourself in that space—a sunrise, a gentle stream, a moonlit sky, or a “tree planted by streams of water” as described in Psalm 1:3.
8. Return with thankfulness: Please, don’t critique your performance. This is an invitation to presence, not a test. Quietly give thanks for this time and notice the gentle changes within yourself.
Some surprising benefits of stillness
As you make this a regular part of your daily life, you will begin to notice that you have more control over your thought life than you realized. You don’t have to be a slave to every thought that crosses your consciousness. You will learn that you can choose which paths to follow, leading to greater ease in becoming centered, slowing down, and staying aligned with your purpose.
Quotes to consider
- “Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness; it’s about creating a clearing. It’s opening up an emotionally clutter-free space and allowing ourselves to feel and think and dream and question.” — Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection
- “We can never hope to know the presence of God or other people until we can be with ourselves in stillness, openness, and attentiveness.” — David G. Benner and Richard Rohr, Presence and Encounter
- “One of the reasons most of us are limited in our ability to be present to others and ourselves is that we possess so little inner stillness.” — David G. Benner
- “Our busyness—which we often blame for our lack of inner stillness—is not the cause of the problem but a way of avoiding it. While we may be attracted to solitude and silence, we also fear them because with each comes an inevitable confrontation with everything we are trying to avoid.” — David G. Benner
- “Inner stillness is letting go. Rather than trying to drive away the distractions, the posture of inner stillness is simply to release them. Being still is, therefore, being free from the distraction of my attachments.” — David G. Benner
- “In the inner stillness where meditation leads, the Spirit secretly anoints the soul and heals our deepest wounds.” — John of the Cross
- “I used to think anxiety and insomnia drove me to success, but it was the stillness that let me be good at anything. When you extend the seconds of stillness, that’s when you’re able to think and learn.” — Russell Simmons
- “All speech that moves men was minted when some man’s mind was poised and still.” — R.E.C. Browne
Questions to answer
1. How easy is it for you to give yourself permission to stop and be still?
2. What is the hardest part of being still for you?
3. What helps you develop stillness as a key feature of your daily rhythm?
Further reading
- The Power in Being Still & How to Practice Stillness
- Questions and Answers About Mindfulness
- Mental Health and the Spiritual Gift of Stillness
- How to Calm an Anxious Mind and Find Peace
Barry Pearman
Photo by Raychan on Unsplash
