Have you ever felt like prayer is more like a one sided rant than a deep and meaningful conversation with the all-powerful King of the Universe? I have. I’ve had what I often refer to as spiritually dry seasons; where it feels like I am out in a desert, thirsting for God with no relief and no response from Him. My Pastor reassures me that God always answers prayers – sometimes with a “yes”, sometimes with a “no”, and at other times with a “wait”. But there is no earnest prayer, he says, that is left unanswered.
I’ve come to experience this truth in my Christian journey. God is indeed never truly silent but when He says “Wait” it can seem like the silence that ensues it close to unbearable. We wonder if He’s forgotten about us. Does He even care? We wait for a response from Him as we cry out in our waiting. And its easy to misunderstand the silence for His lack of love.
I am generally a quiet person and have been accused countless times, by many, that they don’t like that about me. I don’t blame them. I am deeply self-aware of this trait of mine and I understand that it is frustrating to others. Humans are social creatures and communication is key to us. This quiet nature of mine has definitely been disadvantageous to me. Silence is often misinterpreted as disinterest, lack of care, or anti-socialness. Again, I don’t blame anyone. I can’t expect people to know my heart if I don’t open up about what’s in it. Having learned this over the years I’ve tried my very best to be better and I’ll be the first to say that it’s challenging to fight innate characteristics.
However, we make a grave mistake if we interpret God’s silence as a behavioral trait. Unlike me, God is not struggling with an unfavorable social characteristic. He is intentionally communicating with us on his terms. It is important that we get this. Jesus repeatedly reminds us that He is heard and understood by those who have “ears to hear.” You see, we’ve accustomed ourselves to asking the question “Why is God silent in my despair?”, when we should be asking “Do I have ears that hear God speaking to me?”
What I understand from this statement of Jesus is that God is intentional in the ways He speaks to His children and that we must be intentional in our listening. I am glad that Jesus gives us this insight because it offers us direction on how to move forward when we feel like God is distant.
Firstly, we should know how our God speaks. Secondly, we must understand what it means to have “ears to hear”?
So, lets start with how God speaks.
The most consistent and clear way that God speaks to us is through Scripture.
the Psalmist attests to this in chapter 119 v 28 – “My souls melts away for sorrow, strengthen me according to your word.”
Believers of Christ must read the over 750,000 strength-inducing words that has been breathed out in Scripture. I’ve heard it said – “Don’t say God is silent with your Bible closed”. It is so true. More often than not, we feel disconnected from God because we are not reading the letter He wrote us. Statistics say that only 16% of Christians read their Bibles daily. Most Christians, solely rely on a few, well- quoted, and memorized verses. We cannot understand God if we do not read all the verses that lie in between these favorites. We will misread, misunderstand, and misuse these verses if we do not understand them in their entirety. Imagine if you took whole chunks of text out of this blog. You could possibly end up with some thing like this –
“Why is God silent in my despair? Prayer is more like a one sided rant than a deep and meaningful conversation with the all-powerful King? Humans are social creatures and communication is key to us”.
Yes, I wrote all these sentences in this blog, but read without the rest of the text, it does not give any understanding as to what is actually being said. As a matter of fact it could be misunderstood to mean the opposite of what I am trying to say.
The believer should read the Bible daily. The Word of God is life giving. It is the lamp for our feet that leads our steps and the light to our path to guide our decisions.
Another way, God speaks to us is through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus promises, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).
Also referred to, in Scripture, as the our Helper, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, helping us pray according to God’s will. It is absolutely essential to the believer’s journey to live and walk in the Spirit who dwells within us. It is possible to have the Holy Spirit at salvation but not live on a daily basis in His power and equipping. Be intentional about this. Ask Him to help you in your season of despair. Let the Holy spirit comfort you, guide you, teach you and remind you of everything He’s said.
God also speaks to us through His creation – this could mean other people and even nature itself. The Bible says
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2). Just a walk down the seashore or a hike up a hill, reminds us that God is large and in charge, as my Pastor would say, no matter our situation. Being out in nature provides much relief to a restless heart.
God will also use teachers, pastors, and other believers to speak to us. Of course, I would be duress saying this without reaffirming the warning in the Luke 6 v 44 -discern every tree by its fruit. Test the message you hear from others against Scripture and let the Holy Spirit give you wisdom to know what is of Him.
As we read Scripture, are ministered to by the Holy spirit, and encouraged by our fellow believers, we should also practice not fearing the waiting. Let’s not be intimidated by this “silence”. God is not withholding himself from us with some cruel agenda. We must learn to be still in the waiting and not mistake it for His silence. There is no desperate season in your life that God is not effectively using for your good. Even in your despair, He will build up your faith like in no other season. As you wait for physical restoration, you will grow to long spiritual redemption. You will become an effective minister in this suffering world because your hope is built on nothing less that Jesus’s blood and righteousness – that is sure ground, isn’t it?
Today, no matter the circumstance you find yourself in, know that you are not alone. God is in the valley with you, and will preserve you till the end.
Thank you for spending some time with me on PUYB today. If you are interested in sending in a question for this series, please e-mail me at cynthia@pickupyourbible.com.
God Bless.
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