Rhonda,

Being still has always been difficult for me.  It takes some practice.
Learning how to focus and be still so you can hear God always begins with
noise, that is, outside noise.  That includes everything you mentioned in
your message.  I learned 27 years ago how to do this.  At first, everything
is clamoring for attention the second you sit down to be still.  Screaming
is often more like it.  The first time I did this, I almost freaked out when
all the noise and clamor slammed into my brain.  I told the Lord that I
would never be able to do what He was asking me to do.  He told me to wait.
I did.  About 15 minutes later, as I identified the noises individually and
let them fall away, or drift away, things became very quiet for the first
time in my life.  I was on my knees and knealing in front of a chair I
always used when praying but most of the time I sit in a comfortable chair
now.  God is just on the other side of the noise.  Some noise is pretty
threatening, too, like "You are sick and going to die," or, "Your mate has
cancer and is going to die," or old memories try and surface to condemn you
and your relationship with God.  Let them come and don't focus on any of
them; just sit there.  Practicing this more than once will eventually allow
you to go into a prayerful mode, sort of speak, almost immediately, and
frankly, at any time or any place, and the second you do, the noise and
racket bounces off and away almost immediately and suddenly, there is God.
No, this is in no way eastern meditation techniques.  I don't focus on God
or a flame of a candle or hum ohm to myself or try and create images.  I
don't picture myself on the surface of a plasid pond or lake or ocean and
slowly sinking to the bottom.  I don't picture myself slowly levitating into
the sky to drift aimlessly among the clouds and eventually into and among
the stars.  I don't picture myself in my favorite childhood memory playing,
riding my bike, running with my little dog, or strolling through the woods
on a gentle path.  I could, and I have when I didn't know any better, but I
don't.  In fact, if such happens, I immediately mentally defocus away from
them.  I've study eastern religions and practiced, years ago, Transcendental
Meditation, and other eastern new age forms of meditation, and became quite
good at it.  In fact, I became good enough that I know now I could have
easily had and out of body experience, or O B E for short, or what is now
commonly called astral projection.  What I am describing is nothing like
that.  If any image, or unholy thought, attempts coming to mind as I sit and
wait on the Lord, I let my mind immediately go to any of my favorite Bible
verses.  When I let myself unfocus for a second from that verse, I know if
what I was seeing or hearing is gone.  If it isn't, I return to the verse.
If it is gone, I let myself return to just thinking and that's all this is.
Biblical, or Scriptural, meditation is seeking God and to do that, we must
be still and wait on Him.  As I said, I have learned, in recent years, how
to allow this to occur on the fly, sort of speak, and it is a definite
advantage to be able to instantly recognize the voice of the Lord over that
of any other voice because we have lots of voices trying to get our
attention.  So what happens after you cross this noise barrier of every day
life events and circumstances?  Good question.  You hear God.  I know this
is going to get me in trouble.  I reached a point in my prayer life, 27
years ago, when praying in this manner, that I eventually remained on my
knees and totally silent and almost motionless for 30 minutes as I listened.
I did it daily for several weeks, maybe months, until I knew God and where
He was.  He is inside of us and His name is The Holy Spirit.  What I
discovered was that everything faded quietly into the background.  No, not
disappeared all together and no, my mind didn't become empty.  I discovered
that the only two people who were talking in my thoughts were the Holy
Spirit and me without all the worldly interference.  Don't try this at all
if you are really upset because sometimes we are really upset naturally,
that is, our emotions are responding normally to present circumstances, and
since the Lord gave us those emotions, and He has them Himself, He isn't
expecting us to go into a trance and become devoid of all thought and
emotion.  Besides, that alone is dangerous, spiritually speaking, in the
first place.  This is especially true if you haven't ever heard God's voice
in your thoughts clearly in the first place.  So, now that everybody thinks
I am New Age and involved in the eastern art of meditation, I'll stop.

Phil.