What Does It Mean When God Is Silent? 5 Truths to Restore Your Faith

Inside: What does it mean when God is silent? These 5 easy-to-miss truths will help restore your hope, bolster your faith, and get you back on track with trusting God as you take Him off mute in your life.

Years. Years.

That’s how long I spent pleading with God to help me.

I needed Him to solve my problems and bring happiness into my life again.

And for years He seemed silent.

Oh, He answered a few small prayers here and there. But my big, desperate, screaming-crying-shouting prayers?

Well, I didn’t hear a peep out of Him on those.

It seemed like God stayed deathly silent when it mattered most. And I started to feel like what I was praying about wasn’t important. Like I wasn’t important.

It all left me wondering—what does it mean when God is silent?

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But First, Here’s the Truth

I know you understand the pain of a silent season with God.

When God seems silent, your feelings can take over and convince you of all sorts of things. It can make you feel like God doesn’t love you. You may find yourself feeling unworthy, or even feeling abandoned by God.

But your feelings are fickle and you’re better off reminding yourself of what Jesus said:

What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7 (NLT)

God cares about insignificant details like your hair, which means He must care about your heart-rending problems too.

So what does God’s silence mean? Why aren’t you hearing from Him?

The truth is, when you’re wondering why God is silent, you’re more than likely the one who has Him on mute.

God speaks all the time and in many different ways. So when you’re in a silent season with Him, you may be missing or blocking out clear signs God is speaking to you.

Once you accept this truth, pinpointing what it means when God is silent in your life gets way easier. You see, when you know the problem is you—not Him—you empower yourself to solve it.

So what does it mean when God goes silent on you? Let’s explore 5 issues you need to consider.

These truths will help you no matter where you are in your season of silence with God.

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1. What It Means When God Is Silent—His Timing

Most of us Christians have been sold a lie.

It says once you ask God for something, He’s supposed to answer fast. You’re not supposed to have to wait on His solution, with no end in sight. Fervent prayers are supposed to avail much, right?

We’ve swallowed this lie hook, line, and sinker. Because as it turns out, God doesn’t work on anyone’s timetable but His.

It’s a difficult pill to swallow but no amount of reasoning, negotiation, or begging will change this fact.

In the first place, no reasoning is higher than God’s. Plus, He doesn’t negotiate with anyone about anything. And He’s a good Father who loves you but your begging isn’t going to make Him give in.

Sure, God’s answer to your prayer feels like it’s a long time coming. This is mainly because your schedule doesn’t line up with His. But you can count on one thing—He’s never late.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Habakkuk 2:3 (ESV)

So what does it mean when God is silent? Ask yourself if you’re setting your expectations based on your timetable or His.

2. What It Means When God Is Silent—Your Reliability

Let’s say you gave someone under your authority a job to do. But they ignored you and didn’t do what you asked.

Would you give them more responsibility? I’m guessing your answer is no.

You may be doing your daily Bible study and prayer time, and you may feel like this is all God requires of you. But God’s been prompting you to do something or stop doing something—you know what I’m talking about. And if you’ve been ignoring Him, what makes you think He should skip over it and grant your latest wishes?

Why should God trust you with more when He can’t yet trust you with a little?

The parable of the 10 talents is a classic illustration of this truth. Here’s how the story ends:

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Matthew 25:28-29 (ESV)

The master commended the servants who followed his instructions and gave them more responsibility.

So what does it mean when God is silent in your life? Ask yourself if you’ve shown yourself to be a reliable servant to Him.

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3. What It Means When God Is Silent—His Unchanging Nature

Godly wisdom is all over the Bible. The Book of Proverbs is riddled with it, and so are the Epistles.

You can access godly wisdom in your Bible any time you want. Plus, you may have people in your life who are willing to give you godly counsel.

A lot of which you may be ignoring so you can live life on your terms. I sure did…for the entire span of years when I was screaming out to God and He seemed silent.

Or maybe God’s been trying to send you in a different direction from the one you had planned. But you don’t want to get with His program. Maybe because of possible disruption to your life, or because you’re afraid of not knowing the whole plan. Or even because you doubt yourself.

Whatever the reason you’ve been ignoring God’s word, He won’t change His mind so you can stay in your comfort zone.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?
Numbers 23:19 (ESV)

Ignoring God’s counsel, promptings, or plan—or trying to wait Him out—won’t work. You won’t get your way.

So what does it mean when God is silent? Ask yourself if you’re ignoring godly wisdom or avoiding His plan for you.

4. What Does It Mean When God Is Silent—Your Deliberate Sin

God is holy.

It’s easy to forget this fact when you develop a chummy image of Him. But it remains the truth regardless—God is holy.

God is holy beyond your comprehension. Take it from Isaiah who, transported in a vision to God’s heavenly throne room, cried out in despair at his own uncleanness.

Or take it from the Israelites, who were terrified when they saw a reflection of God’s holiness on Moses’ face. Not His face directly—a reflection, for goodness’ sake!

Now, keeping God’s unimaginable holiness in mind, think about this:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV)

When you confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, His shed blood washed you clean. This made it so the Holy Spirit could take up residence in and with you.

But it doesn’t give you permission to live all harum-scarum.

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
James 4:17 (ESV)

This means God’s holiness isn’t going to tolerate or bless your deliberate sin.

So what does it mean when God is silent? Ask yourself if you’re wallowing in willful sin.

5. What Does It Mean When God Is Silent—Your Priorities

God is jealous.

This can be an uncomfortable truth for Christians to accept. We’ve associated jealousy with pettiness and maybe even emotional instability. So thinking about God as jealous doesn’t feel right.

But godly jealousy isn’t like human jealousy. You may feel jealous over something you want that doesn’t belong to you. Or you may feel jealous when you’re desperate to hang on to something you’re afraid will slip away.

God’s jealousy means He won’t share His glory. This is because, by right, all glory belongs to Him.

This means you need to ask yourself what you’ve been glorifying and prioritizing over God. Get honest with yourself and God by answering questions like:

Have you been letting something or someone else pull your attention away from His glory?
What or who have you been submitting to instead of Him?
Are you trusting in God or are you trusting something or someone else—even yourself?
What have you put your faith in outside of God?

Whatever you’re prioritizing over God, He won’t have it.

But He makes a wonderful promise about what happens when you put Him first:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

When you stop and think about it, there’s no better resource to rely on first, last, and always than the God of the entire universe.

So what does it mean when God is silent? Ask yourself what you’ve been prioritizing over God.

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Your Next Steps to Hear God Again

Back in the endless years of my silent season with God, I wish someone had told me the real problem—me!

I’d have saved myself a lifetime of unnecessary pain and suffering. And I sure would have eased up on my screaming-crying-shouting prayers. I’d have been popping out prayers for guidance instead.

Maybe then I’d have opened my eyes and started noticing signs God was trying to get my attention. Looking back now, I know they were all around me. But I was too caught up in wondering what God’s apparent silence meant to notice them.

As for you, now you know what it means when God is silent. And you know you’re the one who’s muting Him. So what’s your next step?

First, download your Hearing God Cheat Sheet. It’ll help you stop missing God trying to speak to you.

Then get honest with yourself and answer these questions:

Are you setting your expectations for results or even an answer based on your timetable or God’s?
Have you obeyed Him in carrying out your godly assignment?
Are you ignoring godly wisdom or avoiding His plan for you?
Are you wallowing in willful sin?
What are you prioritizing over God?

Then you’ll set yourself up to overcome your spiritual deafness and start hearing His voice again.

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