When God Feels Silent
Send me a text When heaven feels quiet and prayers seem unanswered, it’s easy to wonder if God has forgotten you. In this episode, discover how faith deepens in the silence and why waiting doesn’t mean God is absent. Have you ever prayed and not seem to get results? When the answers don’t come, we start to wonder, Is God still listening? In today’s devotion, you’ll hear the story of Pete Greig, founder of the 24-7 Prayer Movement, who faced the silence of God when his wife was diagnosed with ...
When heaven feels quiet and prayers seem unanswered, it’s easy to wonder if God has forgotten you. In this episode, discover how faith deepens in the silence and why waiting doesn’t mean God is absent.
Have you ever prayed and not seem to get results?
When the answers don’t come, we start to wonder, Is God still listening?
In today’s devotion, you’ll hear the story of Pete Greig, founder of the 24-7 Prayer Movement, who faced the silence of God when his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He went from leading a global prayer ministry to asking hard questions beside a hospital bed. But in that quiet, he discovered that God’s presence doesn’t vanish when the answers delay.
Silence isn’t absence; it’s often where trust grows deepest.
Through Pete’s story and the honesty of Scripture, we learn that lament isn’t weakness; it’s worship that holds on when life doesn’t make sense.
Main Scriptures:
Psalm 13:1–2 – “O Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You look the other way?”
Isaiah 30:18 – “The Lord longs to be gracious to you… blessed are all who wait for Him.”
By the end of this episode, you’ll discover:
- Why God’s silence doesn’t mean His absence
- How waiting shapes your faith more than instant answers
- How to keep praying honestly when life hurts
Today’s Challenge:
If God feels quiet, write out a prayer of honesty today. Tell Him where you’re struggling, then pray Isaiah 30:18: “Blessed are all who wait for Him.” Wait with trust, not fear.
Encouraged by today’s devotion?
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0:01 Pete Gregg helped spark a global prayer movement and then the bottom dropped out at home. 18 months after 24-7 prayer began, his wife Sammy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She started having seizures, hospital stays, and scan after scan, questions with no answers. Pete said he went from believing his prayers could save the world to questioning whether they could save his wife. Psalm 13 gives us, How long, Lord? What happens when the prayer guy can't seem to get a prayer through?
0:46 Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger. Have you ever prayed for something again and again and heaven just seemed quiet? Well, you're not alone. The Bible is full of people who wondered, Where are you, God? And yet in that silence, something sacred can happen. Faith learns to breathe when the prayers don't come. Psalm 13, 1 and 2 says, Oh, Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
1:34 When life hurts and heaven seems silent, our instinct is to assume something's wrong with us, or worse, that God has walked away. But Scripture says otherwise. Some of the holiest moments in your life may come wrapped in silence, because silence makes space for trust. Pete Gregg didn't walk away when the prayers went unanswered. He learned to wait. He learned, just keep showing up. He later wrote about that season in his book, God on Mute, describing how lament isn't faithlessness.
2:23 It's faith that refuses to quit. It's saying, God, I don't understand you, but I'm still talking to you. That's the heartbeat of trust. The waiting room isn't wasted time. It's training time. God is still working behind the curtain. He's mending, he's shaping things, and he's preparing answers that might only make sense later. And even when the miracle doesn't come, his presence does. Pete discovered that truth firsthand. He said, The Bible is often more honest about suffering than the church is. Over time, he realized that sometimes God does miracles, but more often than rescue you, God kind of parachutes in and joins us. In the fog, Pete kept showing up, loving his wife. He kept praying imperfect prayers, and he kept trusting God's heart when he couldn't even trace his hand. If God feels silent to you, you're not failing. The shepherd hears, and he's nearer than you think.
3:30 And in his time, he answers with his presence. If God feels quiet today, don't stop talking to him. Write out a prayer to God from your heart and speak it. It doesn't have to be polished. It doesn't have to be perfect. Tell him what hurts, what confuses you, and what you still hope for. Then, take a breath and whisper Isaiah 30, 18. Blessed are those who wait for you. Father, thank you for being near, even when you feel far away. When we can't hear your voice, help us to trust your heart. Teach us to wait with faith and to believe that you're working in ways we can't see yet. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thanks for joining me today on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, silence is not absence. God is still there.
4:30 He's still working and he's still a good God. Come back next time for more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a great day.
