When God Is Silent

Why was God silent?

I was praying but couldn’t feel God’s presence. Nothing. No answer. Not even the hint of a whisper to confirm he was listening, had heard, or even cared.

It was early in the morning and I had gone into my closet to pray. I like praying in my closet. It is my favorite place to seek God. It’s dark in the closet…it’s quiet in the closet…

The problem was God did not show up. Or did he? I don’t know. I really don’t know. So I kept praying for a while and finally quit.

A little frustrated…

A little angry…

A lot disappointed…

Come on God, I made the effort to pray and you did not even show up? So I quit…for the day.

Have you ever quit praying? It’s no fun. The guilt of quitting gets added to the weight of wondering why God did not show up. Is there something wrong with me? Is that why God did not show up.

There are many times I pray and do not feel the presence of God. Yep…many. Nothing. Nada. You experience it too. We all do.

But what does it mean and how do you get through it?

What does it mean? To be blunt: nothing. It’s irrelevant. I know it does not feel irrelevant when we think God dissed us. But it is.

In Psalm 141:2 the Psalmist says, “May my prayer be set before you like incense…” Incense is pleasing. A pleasing aroma to the one smelling it. The Psalmist understands his prayers give off a pleasant scent. The one smelling them is God. I know…sounds strange that God smells our prayers. Think metaphorically.

The Apostle John shares a similar thought in Revelation 8:3. This passage is in the middle of the final judgment as the 7th seal is opened…it’s an intense setting. So the 7th seal is opened, there is silence in heaven for half an hour, the angels are given 7 trumpets, then…

Revelation 8:3-4: “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.”

This is what you need to understand: through faith in Jesus Christ every time you pray, your prayers are pleasing to God. Like incense to him. They smell good to God. Is that true even if you don’t feel God’s presence each time you pray? Absolutely. It’s always true.

If we make prayer about always experiencing the presence of God, we make what we want the center of our prayers. We make the experience we want the most important thing. If we pray instead to bring honor and glory and praise to God, we make our prayers about him. About God. That’s the way God wants it. That’s the way God likes it. About him first.

But when I did not experience the presence of God I was still frustrated. I was still a bit angry. I was still disappointed. That’s being human. It’s okay. God understands.

The most important thing is don’t give up. I gave up for the day. I did not give up for the week. Give up for the day and you’re ok. Give up for the week and your spiritual growth begins to suffer. Give up for a month and it will only get worse.

Here is the thing. When you don’t experience the presence of God in prayer, even if you quit praying for the day, don’t quit praying for the week. Your prayers are always going up before God as incense. Always? Yes always. So keep praying. Keep the incense burning for God.