What To Do If It Seems Like God Isn't Listening
For me, prayer is an integral part of my life. I pray every morning as soon as I wake up, every night before I go to bed, before every meal, with my family each morning and evening and when they go to bed. I pray when I'm feeling sad, when I'm feeling happy, when I'm worried, when I'm sitting in traffic or when I'm at work... basically I am constantly praying and sharing with my Heavenly Father all my joys, woes, thoughts, hopes, desires and requests for help or guidance.
Like most Christians, I'm used to getting answers to my prayers and when I don't? Well, let's just say I don't take it too well.
Answers to prayers are a personal thing, they happen differently for everyone and no one way is right or wrong. Thinking on it I actually get answers in a lot of different ways.
The most common way that I get my answers to my prayers is by getting a feeling, a sort of gut intuition. Like, I might get a warm feeling if the answer is yes, or I might feel a sharp "No!" or a feeling of love bubbling up inside of me that I start to cry or smile or sing.
Sometimes my answers come from other people. Like it might be someone saying something, or doing something. Recently our Stake President gave a talk at Stake Conference and he said one small phrase that was the answer to questions I had asked in multiple prayers in the preceding week and helped me to understand a situation I was in.
Every once in a while I get a word or two, or a scripture reference or the lyrics to a hymn or song will pop into my head or sometimes I see the answer, a vision of sorts, like when I knew that Flyfour and I would be married because I saw him and I together, old and happy.
Recently though, it seems as if God isn't listening.
I talked about it with my husband and he reminded me that it's not that God isn't listening, it's more like I've forgotten how to hear God answering and that sometimes as Christians we all experience periods where we think God isn't listening and it gives us a chance to stop, think, examine our lives and if needed refocus on what is important.
So what do you do if it seems like God isn't listening?
Pray.
Even if you don't think God is listening you need to keep talking to him. Sometimes, people think prayer has to be formal and stiff because that is the way they have been taught or thought they had been taught. I've discovered though that formal and reverent are two different things. I talk to God as if he was sitting next to me. I tell him "I've screwed up and I need divine help from thee to fix it" or "I really don't know how to help in this situation and would appreciate guidance from thee" or "The funniest thing happened to me at work today and I wanted to tell thou about it."
Read your Scriptures.
Oh my goodness, every answer you could possibly need can be found in the Scriptures. Sometimes it's seeing a verse from a new angle or realising that there is a word in there that you glossed over a million times before. These words have been preserved and given to us so that we can find divine guidance and if we don't read them, how are they going to answer us?
Serve.
I've talked before about serving and honestly, it really helps to focus on someone else and to forget yourself for a while. It helps lift your spirits and it helps to bring you closer to God and I don't know about you but for me, it also clears my head of all the other distracting thoughts and feelings.
Clarity of Mind.
I'm sure that this isn't a modern issue. I am sure that many years ago, those who were used to having to do washing by hand, who didn't have the convenience of a microwave or a slow cooker, who had to darn socks and spin wool and feed livestock and light fires and lamps and all the other millions of chores, that I'm so glad that I don't have to do, also had plethora of thoughts filling their heads.
My mind goes a million miles an hour, with a million different thoughts and scenarios. Work, Family, Volunteering, Studying, Questions, Thoughts, Feelings, Lesson Prep, Chores, Young Women's, Temple Attendance, Brownies, Ward Council, Scripture Study, Homework, Friends, Cooking, Shopping and it never stops, which the odd questions on my Facebook page probably show you!
Sometimes this stops us from hearing God, sometimes we just need to be quiet and just let our minds be still and prayer and meditation is great for this.
Stop listening for the answer you want and listen for the answer being given.
I am so guilty of this! Do you ever watch The Simpsons? There's a scene where Homer is kneeling beside the bed giving a prayer and says;
Although I'm sure sometimes he really does want us to eat the cookies for him.
Patience.
I know, that was the last thing you wanted to hear, but sometimes we need to be patient when we're waiting on an answer to a prayer. It might be that the timing isn't right, that the question we asked isn't the right question, or even that plans are already in motion that will render our question defunct in the next day or two.
We have to trust in God and his timing.
When it all comes down to it, I know that God is there, listening to our prayers even if sometimes it seems like he isn't. I know this because every time I've felt like this in the past, I've taken stock, readjusted myself and found our Heavenly Father waiting for me to be able to hear the answers to my prayers.
The God I know is a God of forgiveness, of patience, of love and he's giving it to us even if we aren't listening.
Like most Christians, I'm used to getting answers to my prayers and when I don't? Well, let's just say I don't take it too well.
Answers to prayers are a personal thing, they happen differently for everyone and no one way is right or wrong. Thinking on it I actually get answers in a lot of different ways.
The most common way that I get my answers to my prayers is by getting a feeling, a sort of gut intuition. Like, I might get a warm feeling if the answer is yes, or I might feel a sharp "No!" or a feeling of love bubbling up inside of me that I start to cry or smile or sing.
Sometimes my answers come from other people. Like it might be someone saying something, or doing something. Recently our Stake President gave a talk at Stake Conference and he said one small phrase that was the answer to questions I had asked in multiple prayers in the preceding week and helped me to understand a situation I was in.
Every once in a while I get a word or two, or a scripture reference or the lyrics to a hymn or song will pop into my head or sometimes I see the answer, a vision of sorts, like when I knew that Flyfour and I would be married because I saw him and I together, old and happy.
Recently though, it seems as if God isn't listening.
I talked about it with my husband and he reminded me that it's not that God isn't listening, it's more like I've forgotten how to hear God answering and that sometimes as Christians we all experience periods where we think God isn't listening and it gives us a chance to stop, think, examine our lives and if needed refocus on what is important.
So what do you do if it seems like God isn't listening?
Pray.
Even if you don't think God is listening you need to keep talking to him. Sometimes, people think prayer has to be formal and stiff because that is the way they have been taught or thought they had been taught. I've discovered though that formal and reverent are two different things. I talk to God as if he was sitting next to me. I tell him "I've screwed up and I need divine help from thee to fix it" or "I really don't know how to help in this situation and would appreciate guidance from thee" or "The funniest thing happened to me at work today and I wanted to tell thou about it."
Read your Scriptures.
Oh my goodness, every answer you could possibly need can be found in the Scriptures. Sometimes it's seeing a verse from a new angle or realising that there is a word in there that you glossed over a million times before. These words have been preserved and given to us so that we can find divine guidance and if we don't read them, how are they going to answer us?
Serve.
I've talked before about serving and honestly, it really helps to focus on someone else and to forget yourself for a while. It helps lift your spirits and it helps to bring you closer to God and I don't know about you but for me, it also clears my head of all the other distracting thoughts and feelings.
Clarity of Mind.
I'm sure that this isn't a modern issue. I am sure that many years ago, those who were used to having to do washing by hand, who didn't have the convenience of a microwave or a slow cooker, who had to darn socks and spin wool and feed livestock and light fires and lamps and all the other millions of chores, that I'm so glad that I don't have to do, also had plethora of thoughts filling their heads.
My mind goes a million miles an hour, with a million different thoughts and scenarios. Work, Family, Volunteering, Studying, Questions, Thoughts, Feelings, Lesson Prep, Chores, Young Women's, Temple Attendance, Brownies, Ward Council, Scripture Study, Homework, Friends, Cooking, Shopping and it never stops, which the odd questions on my Facebook page probably show you!
Sometimes this stops us from hearing God, sometimes we just need to be quiet and just let our minds be still and prayer and meditation is great for this.
Stop listening for the answer you want and listen for the answer being given.
I am so guilty of this! Do you ever watch The Simpsons? There's a scene where Homer is kneeling beside the bed giving a prayer and says;
"As an offering, I present these milk and cookies. If you wish me to eat them instead, please give me no sign whatsoever...... Thy bidding will be done."Sometimes we need to stop and listen for the answer being given, rather than rushing ahead with what we are sure God is telling us...
Although I'm sure sometimes he really does want us to eat the cookies for him.
Patience.
I know, that was the last thing you wanted to hear, but sometimes we need to be patient when we're waiting on an answer to a prayer. It might be that the timing isn't right, that the question we asked isn't the right question, or even that plans are already in motion that will render our question defunct in the next day or two.
We have to trust in God and his timing.
When it all comes down to it, I know that God is there, listening to our prayers even if sometimes it seems like he isn't. I know this because every time I've felt like this in the past, I've taken stock, readjusted myself and found our Heavenly Father waiting for me to be able to hear the answers to my prayers.
The God I know is a God of forgiveness, of patience, of love and he's giving it to us even if we aren't listening.