When your prayers feel unanswered
You are not the first to ask "Where are you, God?" The Bible is full of people who asked it out loud.
Silence is not the same as absence. Some of the most honest prayers in Scripture begin with "How long?" - and God kept them in the Bible on purpose, for days like this one.
“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”
“How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?”
David prayed this. Feeling forgotten is part of the life of faith, not the end of it.
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
Near - even when it doesn't feel like it.
“And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”
He is not behind you, waiting. He has already gone ahead.
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”
There is no place so low that He is not there.
“And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”
Sometimes God speaks quietly. Elijah heard Him only after the noise stopped.
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
When you have no words, your prayer is still being carried.
“The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”
Written in the ruins of Jerusalem. Waiting is not wasted.
Also helpful: Bible Verses About Doubt · Bible Verses for Loneliness
Yes. Feelings are real, but they are not a measure of whether God is listening. "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us" (1 John 5:14). Many prayers in the Psalms were prayed in the dark and answered later.
Grief, exhaustion, stress and depression can numb every feeling, including the feeling of God's presence. Even Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). Feeling abandoned is not proof that you are.
God's promise is plain: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). You can tell Him exactly how abandoned you feel - that kind of honesty is itself a prayer.
Start small. Read one psalm a day (Psalm 13, 42 and 139 are good places to begin), pray in your own plain words, and spend time with people who share your faith. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8).
God, I don't feel you right now. I've been calling and it feels like no one is there. But I choose to believe you have not forgotten me. Hold on to me when I can't hold on to you, and let me hear your still, small voice again. Amen.