"What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops" (Matthew 10:27).

My spiritual director asked, "How's your prayer?" He asked it calmly, openly, without any hint of reprobation. The answer was, "Dry."

And I think he knew that based on the myriad of struggles I laid out before him on that conference room table, in that room lined with books, clutching my paper cup with ice water between two sweaty palms.

In my nagging prayer, in my loud prayer, I couldn't sense God's presence. In my prayer that consisted of a demand list and a sob fest, I wasn't relying on Scripture, just my damp lists. In this prayer, the well was dry, the bucket lost, the rope cut short.

But when I think on today's Gospel, I am prodded into the spiritual reality that the Lord is here, in this very breath, waiting, patiently, watching, lovingly, to reveal Himself to my quieted heart.

Is your heart quiet and peaceful enough to hear His voice, sister? Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, one we can cultivate and widen when we're in the state of grace.

Because when it is, and when we are, we will have so much to speak, to proclaim. My prayer needed that reminder of silence. If yours does too, don't be embarrassed. Quiet yourself in His presence and let His living water pour over you.

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Find the full list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit here.