The set up for this is simple. If possible dim the lights, but that is about all of the advance planning needed. Read through the following slowly. If you are just starting out adding silence to your worship times you may want to start with just 3 minutes. If your group has some experience with silent worship then you can move up to 5 or more.

A couple of tips about silence. 1) If your group is new to the experience you may want to explain the difference between silence and just not talking. The idea is to cut out all noise, that includes clearing your throat. This should keep the cacophony of coughs and sniffles that occur at around the 1 minute mark to a minimum.  2) Time your silence. In our fast paced and planned out worship gathering a minute of silence will seem like an eternity. Use a watch to be sure that you give the silence enough time to breathe.

Take a moment and quietly find a place where you are comfortable. You can stay sitting where you are, or you can find a comfortable spot on the floor.

1 Kings 19:9-13 (NIV)

And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

We come here to see and encounter God. But so many times we surround ourselves with lights and music and videos and all of this stuff and we forget that sometimes God comes in a gentle whisper.

We seem to surround our lives with noise, with cell phones and computers and a different activity every night. We are so afraid of silence, because in the silence we must face who we really are and most of us don’t really like who we are.

Right now we are going to sit quietly for a while. Use this time to pray, to seek God’s face, and to ask Him to cut through the noise in your life and open up your heart to worshiping Him.