Getting Quiet

Pasted below is the email devotional I recieved today.

"He went up into a mountain apart" (Matt. 14:23).
One of the blessings of the old-time Sabbath was its calm, its restfulness, its holy peace. There is a strange strength conceived in solitude. Crows go in flocks and wolves in packs, but the lion and the eagle are solitaires.
Strength is not in bluster and noise. Strength is in quietness. The lake must be calm if the heavens are to be reflected on its surface. Our Lord loved the people, but how often we read of His going away from them for a brief season. He tried every little while to withdraw from the crowd. He was always stealing away at evening to the hills. Most of His ministry was carried on in the towns and cities by the seashore, but He loved the hills the best, and oftentimes when night fell He would plunge into their peaceful depths.
The one thing needed above all others today is that we shall go apart with our Lord, and sit at His feet in the sacred privacy of His blessed presence. Oh, for the lost art of meditation! Oh, for the culture of the secret place! Oh, for the tonic of waiting upon God! --Selected

I believe this quiet before God is a vital need in my own life, but I struggle to find it. Even when I am alone and technically quiet should come, I am often under fire from my own mental noise. I am encouraged by this devotional to sit long enough for quiet to come. I am encouraged to wait...

I would love to know how others find the quiet, how you get your mind to cooperate and get calm enough to really hear Him.