Many of our guests return to the Center each summer for an annual silent retreat. We currently have 25 guests checking in today for a 7-Day Directed Retreat There are individuals who are dedicated to this practice of setting aside a week each year to disconnect from their daily norm and to reconnect to what lies under the surface, tuning into God’s voice by ‘listening with the ear of our hearts’. If you can’t find the time to come out to our Center for a silent retreat, maybe just a few quiet moments alone will provide the renewal you’re seeking today? Let’s read the verses from scripture and quotes below for a little inspiration…
“He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” ~Luke 5:16
“Our listening is an echo of God’s eternal listening to us. We might say poetically, that God says to us, ‘I created you to have someone to listen to, because I just love it when you talk to me like this. And my listening, I created in my heart an echo of my eternal listening to you, so that each unto each, the listening and the word, unites in a kind of union.” ~James Finley
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” ~Mark 1:35
“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” ~Mother Theresa
“If we have listening ears, God speaks to us in our own language, whatever that language may be.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” ~Revelation 3:20
“Obeying God is listening to God, having an open heart to follow the path that God points out to us.” ~Pope Francis
“Prayer is first of all listening to God. It’s openness. God is always speaking; he’s always doing something.” ~Henri Nouwen
“The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says ‘Amen’ and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him our ideas.” ~Frank Laubach
“Prayer is – listening for the still small voice of God. Listening with the ‘ear of our hearts’.” ~Richard J. Foster