The Hardest Thing Is to Stay Silent
Pastor Wesley Sing, 21 March 2026, 36 min
Sermon outline
Prayer is a language we learn, and six steps grow it: become silent before God, adore Him, confess what His word says about you, give thanks, make supplication, and bring Him specific petitions backed by His word.
Main text
- Matthew 6:25-34
Opening
The service opens with a baby dedication. He explains that parents commit before the Lord to raise their child in God's word and ways, reads Psalm 127 and Matthew 19, charges the parents from Proverbs 22:6 and charges the church to support the families, then prays over the children. Turning to the message, he says he is continuing the pastor's message as the month of prayer closes, on lessons that help in the marketplace, and reads Matthew 6:25-34: do not worry, but seek first the kingdom of God.
Step one: become silent
Every relationship needs communication, and prayer is ours with God. In silence you calm the noise inside, the worry, panic and frustration, so that spirit, mind, body and emotions can pray God's will together. Our first instinct is to react and retaliate, or to tell everyone close to us, and by the time we reach our prayer closet the panic has set in and we no longer know how to pray. Stand on what you have confessed and prayed, and be silent.
“One of the hardest things is to be silent 'cause human nature wants to run the other way.”
- Psalm 45:1
- Ephesians 6:13
- James 1:19-24
Step two: give adoration
Adoration is respect, reverence, admiration and love towards God. Worship Him for who He is, King, Creator and Saviour, and thank Him even when you do not understand. In adoring Him we give back to Him control over our lives, and that is when the blessing, the fulfilment and the healing come.
“In our adoration to God, we are showing Him that we are willing to relinquish control over our lives.”
Step three: make confessions
Confession here means agreeing with God about what His word says about us, not confessing sin. At first we say it to ourselves, until the revelation ignites inside and it becomes alive. Many copy other people's confessions without results because the word is not yet living in them. The inner mouth of our thoughts and the outer mouth must agree, because what you think about longest becomes your conviction. Watch how you say things too: the right words said the wrong way can nullify them.
“What you think longest becomes your conviction.”
- Proverbs 18:20-21
Step four: give thanks
Offer God a sacrifice of praise every day, for His word, His Spirit, His protection, the doors He closed and the doors He opened. Scripture after scripture calls us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and to give thanks in every situation, not only some. He admits this is the step he himself sometimes trips on.
Illustration: Buy a teenager a laptop and watch him say, this is mine; give a little one a lollipop and the whole world explodes in gumdrops. When a parent sees that gratitude, all he wants is to give more, and so does God.
“Don't let one day ever go where you don't show God appreciation.”
- Psalm 100:4-5
- Psalm 106:1
- Psalm 107:21-22
- Daniel 2:23
- Ephesians 5:18-20
Step five: make supplications
As God shows you what He wants, agree with Him wholeheartedly in prayer. Be anxious for nothing, but bring everything to God with thanksgiving, and His peace will guard your heart and mind. Some people in a crisis tell everyone, stop eating and sleeping and get ulcers; others say God is in control, and that calm is the peace of God.
Illustration: People will ask how you can stay so calm and not react, and the answer is: God knows my heart, God knows the situation, He's in control.
“No. No. God is in control. God knows my heart. God knows the situation. He's in control.”
- Philippians 4:6-7
Step six: specify your petitions
When you ask God for something, bring evidence from His word that fits your case and be specific and intentional. Find the scriptures on your need, remind God of what He did for Lazarus and for believers you know, and stand on it. Because the veil was torn, we come to God through the name of Jesus, and as we keep doing this, faith is built up until it bursts forth.
Illustration: Prayer will mean different things at different times: to a sick man God is a healer, to a man in debt God is a deliverer, to a lonely man God is a companion.
“There'll be different times in your life when prayer will mean so much more than just a religious activity.”
- John 11:43-44
- Matthew 27:51
Putting it into practice
- Before you tell anyone about a crisis, go to God and be still
- Find the scriptures that speak to your situation and confess them until they are alive in you
- Thank God every day, even when you do not understand
- Pray specifically, with His word as your evidence
- Make the parts of the Christian life you dislike, like reading the word, the parts you master
Closing
He has the church stand and compares prayer to an athlete's training: a sprinter hates the repetitions but loves the victory, so he masters what he hates until he loves it, and prayer is a language learnt the same way. He speaks over the church a new prayer language, a hunger for God and speech that only speaks life, then asks for a show of hands from anyone wanting to accept Jesus or come back after growing cold, and welcomes a woman to the front.
Worth remembering
- “One of the hardest things is to be silent 'cause human nature wants to run the other way.”
- “In silence, you can calm the noise that's inside of you.”
- “Sometimes we can be saying the right thing, but just the wrong way of saying it automatically nullifies what we saying.”
- “Don't let one day ever go where you don't show God appreciation.”
- “He goes and he masters what he hates so it becomes what he loves.”
Every scripture in this message
- Matthew 6:25-34
- Psalm 127:3-5
- Matthew 19:13-14
- Proverbs 22:6
- Deuteronomy 6:6-7
- Psalm 45:1
- Ephesians 6:13
- James 1:19-24
- Proverbs 18:20-21
- Psalm 100:4-5
- Psalm 106:1
- Psalm 107:21-22
- Daniel 2:23
- Ephesians 5:18-20
- Philippians 4:6-7
- John 11:43-44
- Matthew 27:51
- Matthew 5:39
- Psalm 103:1
In this message
Main text
- Matthew 6:25-34
