If you haven’t caught on yet, the title of this is a play on words for the “Come Sail Away” song that I now can’t get out of my head. “Selah” is so much better than sailing, at least for me at this season of my life. I’m reading Psalms and I see that word often. It’s a Hebrew word that means “pause” or “silence” or my fancy translation of “chill baby chill”.

As I was praying the other night for so many needs, the Lord impressed on my heart that I needed to pause and listen to Him. Hence the word “selah”.

Beautiful scene of a sail boat on clear bluish green ocean water with a bird flying overhead

Photo by Athena via Pexels.com

So many people in our family, church, and in the Twitch community have needs right now. It’s easy to get lost going through the list of needs and that is exactly what I was doing. 

Maybe David was onto something when he was writing songs and poetry in Psalms. He was a man after God’s own heart after all. Maybe he knew that we needed to pause and reflect on the Lord instead of us doing all the fancy talking.

Have you heard of the song “Talking to Jesus” by Elevation Church & Maverick City? I randomly came across this today and it is such a touching and meaningful song to me, especially now that I am a mom. It ties perfectly into what the Lord was trying to teach and remind me. 

Prayer is meant to be a conversation with the Lord, not just a request dump where we never stop to hear His side of things. The verse below still holds true today for us but sometimes we need to be quiet and give the Lord a chance to speak. Then maybe we can see if He’s trying to tell us something or give us the answers we’re seeking.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”

Psalms 32:8 

Maybe you have never heard from the Lord before or felt He was speaking to you through something that you heard or saw. Or maybe it has just been a while. Either way, I urge you to pray and ask the Lord to speak to you and then be quiet and listen. Then go to your Bible and see what you come across. He may just be speaking.

Life is busy. It’s rushed, it’s hectic a lot of times and if we aren’t careful, we’ll miss out on what God is trying to do to help us. If you’re like me, sometimes we have our own agendas too and can forget to pause and let the Lord get a word in. 

The Bottom Line

We need some “selah” in our life, doesn’t that sound nice? It does to me when I’m chasing a rambunctious toddler around all day every day! I’d like lots of “selah” and chill time, please!

Alright, maybe I’m taking this a little out of context but seriously… We do need to carve out “selah” time to hear what the Lord is telling us. 

I just want to remind you and myself that prayer is a conversation. It’s a two-way street between us and God. We shouldn’t be doing ALL the talking. Be still, be calm, and relaxed for a moment and listen to what He’s saying. You may be pleasantly surprised like I was.

A Prayer For You

Lord Jesus, please forgive me for not taking the time to listen to what You’re trying to tell me. Remind me to pause and to hear what You may be impressing on my heart. Please Lord speak to me and make it clear what I should do on a daily basis and with the tough decisions I will face. I will now give You a moment to tell me what You want…

Stay hopeful and “selah” away with me!