The “Be Still” prayer is an important spiritual practice for the people of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. It was introduced to me by Don Samuels, who learned it from Fr. Richard Rohr. Ever since I shared it with the people of St. Matthew’s, wonderful stories have emerged. A member of our faith community who is a nurse told me she prayed it during a stressful episode in the Emergency Room. Another parishioner who drives a school bus full of enthusiastic children prayed the Be Still prayer in thick traffic, and it calmed him down and reminded him that God was with him and the children. And yet another church member who is a single mother with two teenage daughters told me the three of them pray this prayer together each night on her bed.
“Be still and know that I am God” comes from Psalm 46, verse 10. To pray this prayer, take a deep breath and center yourself in God’s loving, gracious presence. Then say “Be still and know that I am God.” Pause for a moment to rest in the reality of God’s company and companionship. Then repeat the verse several times, leaving off a word or a couple of words each time. The entire prayer goes as follows:
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Move into a period of silent reflection, with your palms facing upward in a posture of receptivity.
Image by Leonard J Matthews. Reproduced under CC-BY-ND 2.0 via Flickr.
