Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton
Week 3: Chapter 2 — Silence
Read Chapter 2 of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. Primary passages: Psalm 46:10; 1 Kings 19:11–13.
Previewing Week 3 of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
In a world that is louder than any generation before us, Staton makes the countercultural case that silence is not the absence of prayer but one of its most essential postures — and that learning to be quiet before God may be the hardest and most rewarding work we do. Sit with these questions slowly.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Staton opens the chapter by observing how uncomfortable most modern people are with silence — we fill every gap with a screen, a playlist, or a notification. When was the last time you sat in genuine silence? What happened inside you?
2.He draws on the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 — God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in the "still small voice" (or "sheer silence," as some translations render it). What does it say about God's character that he chose to speak in silence rather than spectacle to a prophet who was burned out and suicidal?
3.Staton distinguishes between *exterior* silence (the absence of noise around us) and *interior* silence (the quieting of the anxious, chattering self within us). Which one is harder for you to achieve? What makes interior silence so difficult?