This is the third of three devotionals submitted for consideration to “Forward Day by Day,” a daily devotional publication of The Episcopal Church. The full month of daily devotionals will be published next January.

Revelation 1:10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.

Our lives are filled with noise. Cell phones, email, social media and a constant stream of entertainment and marketing compete for our attention. Stress and anxiety compound this noise, leaving little room for us to hear God in our lives – even when God speaks with “a loud voice like a trumpet.”

Most of us don’t live in the quiet solitude of John’s exile on the small island of Patmos. As undesirable as exile was, it gave John an ample supply of peace in which to hear and pass on to posterity the word of God. If we’re to hear God, and make that voice central to our lives, we have to create our own islands of silence.

This is why we have to make deliberate time for prayer. In that island of silence, away from the competing noise of this world, we can rest “in the Spirit” and let God’s voice move through our lives.

MOVING FORWARD: Is time for prayer a priority in your daily planning? What changes can you make in your schedule to implement or enhance quiet time with God?