When God is silent

There may be troubling times in a believer’s prayer life when it appears that God is silent. Our message this week focuses on possible reasons why this might happen. Therefore, I would like you to open your hearts as you read prayerfully. As our working tool, let us consider three different texts of scripture.

Psalm 28:1 says

“To you I will cry, O Lord, my rock: do not be silent with me, so that if you remain silent with me, I may become like those who go down into the pit.”

Psalm 83:1 says exactly the same thing: “Do not be silent, O God; do not be silent, and do not be silent, O God.”

Psalm 50:16-22 says: “To the wicked God says: What must you do to declare my statues, or to take my covenant in your mouth? Since you hate instruction and cast my words behind you. When you saw a thief, you consented to him and were partakers of adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue plots deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slandered your mother’s son. These things you did, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you; but I will rebuke you and set everything in order before your eyes. Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces and there be no one to deliver you.”

Beloved, I have heard many sermons in my life, but few have been as moving as the one I heard over 20 years ago entitled “God’s Lament and Failure Over His Creatures.” The preacher took his text from Genesis 6:5 which says: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually.” The summary of this particular message was God’s decision to eliminate man from the surface of the earth as a result of man’s refusal to listen to His voice. Therefore, since God’s words do not change a person and the person stubbornly clings to their opinions and ways, the end is always destruction. God’s word did not change Adam and Eve and that is why all of humanity is in trouble now. God’s word did not change Cain, which is why he became the first murderer. God’s word did not change Lot’s daughters, even though they received angelic visitation. Korah, Dathan and Abiram also refused to be changed by the word of God and became the first people to go to the fires of hell without dying, they were swallowed alive. God lamented in many places in scripture. He also laments when His words do not change men. However, God may even choose not to say anything. Let’s examine some of the possible reasons why He might take this course of action:

1.When He is not happy with you and has abandoned you. It was God who chose Saul, installed him as king over His people and helped him win his battles. But he disobeyed God and God refused to have any further dialogue with him, whether through prophecy, vision or dream. Saul finally fell and died with his three sons on the same day. Eli and Samuel slept in the same room, but God chose to speak to Samuel because Eli’s activities since then have evoked God’s displeasure. So when you are not hearing from the Lord again, you probably started doing some things that evoked His displeasure and therefore He abandoned you. At this time, pray to the Lord like this:

“Any sin blocking my ears, any sin keeping God away from me, get out of my life now, in the name of Jesus.”

2.When He is speaking to you, but you are not hearing His voice. He is talking, but somewhere along the way, your frequency is different from his. If God is speaking to you and for some reason something is happening in your life and you are not listening to Him, it is as if He is silent, but He is speaking. You just can’t catch it. Most believers are very good at speaking, but their listening skills are underdeveloped. Most Christians have become experts in using their mouths and have rejected the act of listening. In today’s world there is so much noise and being truly silent is very difficult. This is why some people go on retreats to get out of the crowd and create an atmosphere conducive to hearing God.