That's right. If you wanted to only diagnose how some go wrong, that's very good to do. It's when they listen to *some* select words they want to hear, and ignore the rest. For instance, to listen to some things Christ said, isolated verses, and not the rest of what He said. That ignoring is a step on a path to hell.
Now, here, we all believe in Him, as in the Apostle's creed --
"I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under
Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."
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Now, as we learn from Christ, it's not enough to only believe. James helps us to point out that the demons believe, and tremble. More is required, that we repent of sins, falling on God's forgiveness through Christ Jesus of our sins, and that if we actually do believe (not merely believe in our own stuff we like, but all He says) then we will keep his words, remain in Him, and bear fruit ( John chapter 15).
Of course any Quakers in the past or present that haven't are not going to the narrow gate (Matthew chapter 7).
But, with the understanding of the only thing that saves, shouldn't we also listen to Christ in Matthew 7 also in the verses 7-11 (or 7-12)? Yes, of course we should. While this is about prayer, it's also about faith, and about silencing our own flesh (as Paul wrote in another wording in Romans chapter 8), and instead aiming to walk in the spirit. Today, in America, there is a lot of noise, and silencing all the noise from the world and the flesh is a part of walking in the spirit. Though there are so many ways, this is one of them -- silence (see more in post #14).
Thus, the interesting side of silence, or candle lighting, or silent moments in prayer (groanings too deep for words, Romans chapter 8), that instead of just our own voices, we listen to Him. Instead of wanting to hear ourselves, we want to be led by the spirit. You can see how silence would be a part of that, listening instead of talking.
