Keeping Company

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

—Psalm 147:3

Most of us learn to pray by talking—we learn that prayer is talking to God. And it is. But I’m learning another way to pray, too: more like keeping company, like sitting in silence with an old friend. It’s this kind of praying that heals me when my heart is broken, that binds me up when fear has pulled me into pieces.

Sometimes praying by talking to God only gets me more wound up—articulating each fear, naming each anxiety, putting words to every hurt and broken part. Sometimes these days I feel most connected to God in the silence—trusting that he’s there, that he’s holding me, that I’m safe.

It’s in the silence that I find rest and grace and peace. It’s in the silence that I remember the promises he’s kept. It’s in the silence that I sense his presence, like someone who loves me is keeping me company, because that’s exactly true.

When my prayers turn into long rantings, rambling diatribes about what I want and what I need and what scares me, I’m learning to close my mouth, and to settle into the silence. That’s where I feel his company.