07/02/2019
Do we pray and hear only silence in return? Are we satisfied to live out our spiritual lives in the silence of God? Well this is not what a faithful soul should expect; our lives should be spent seeking, listening, and obeying the voice of God. When we have become content with silence we have become accustomed to being separated from God, and this should be fearful and torturous to us.
“Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.”
Psalms 28:1 KJV
My wife and I have a good marriage, but over the course of our 43 years together we have argued from time to time. A marriage without disagreements is not healthy because issues, and there will be issues, are never resolved. But whenever we argue and reach a point of impasse then comes the silence. This period of quiet in which one or both of us isn’t speaking is not the end of the argument... it is a time when a couple actively mulls over the argument and turns inward towards their faith as they do some soul searching. When this happens our argument is more often than not resolved without further conflict. We go for a while walking around in stubborn quiet, until the silence gnaws at us and at last our love for one another overcomes whatever petty difference there was between us... at that moment the argument ends in an embrace and an exchange of “I love you”, followed by “let’s not argue”, and the solution is voiced... then comes a renewal of our intimacy in a kiss.
Does this sound familiar in your relationship with your spouse, or others? How about in your relationship with God... have you ever argued with Him over something? Perhaps you have prayed for a certain outcome and not received it, or had it met with silence? In these circumstances don’t assume the God has not heard you because He hears your every word. So how do we reconcile His apparent inaction and silence with verses such as these...
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."”
Matthew 21:22 ESV
“And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
1 John 5:15 ESV
There are two things at play here and we quite often misunderstand them. The first is the phrase “If you have faith.” — People often get sideways with God because they say they have faith but their prayers aren’t being answered or are met with silence. Well faith can’t properly exist unless we understand and accept the second of the two ingredients... the will of God.
So often we confuse our believing that God exists, and that He hears us, with faith... when in fact we must seek out His will and begin living, and praying, within it before our faith bears fruit. It was no accident that Jesus began The Lord’s Prayer with “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and as we pray we need to be seeking God’s will first And foremost... just as Jesus taught.
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
James 4:3 ESV
So quite often we pray for things that we desire, things pertaining to our will, but we have never reconciled them with God’s Will. At this point we begin to pray harder (which is like intensifying an argument), then we begin to get loud as we shout and demand of God (which is like a very intense argument), until at last we go silent.
It is at this point a couple of things can happen, the first will be that we question our faith, and decide whether we still believe that God exists because our perception is that He didn’t live up to our expectation that He would give us whatever we wanted... we do this because we misunderstood faith and tried to separate it from God’s will. The second is more healthy in any relationship... we search for God’s will in this time of silence, and our spirit begins to moan and make utterance through the Holy Spirit as we fervently seek to reconcile ourselves with God. Jesus did this too...
“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Luke 22:44 ESV
It is at this moment in Gethsemane Jesus is reconciling His will with God’s... just as we must do when we enter into our prayers, and as we live out our lives...
“And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."”
Mark 14:36 ESV
Jesus accepts God’s will even though it is not what He wanted. But we are a stubborn lot, and quite often we press our argument to impasse, and in the silence which ensues we just accept the silence and walk away... oh we say we still believe, but in this state we have no true expectation of the relationship. Our love for God has ceased to drive us to resolution. There is no embrace, no sincere “I love you”, no “let’s not argue”, and no healing kiss... only our obstinance, and the silence.
I read sermons, and listen to songs which refer to the ”Silence of God” as if it was abandonment, or punishment, but it is more appropriate to view it as our shared silence, because we have ceased to actively seek His will, and we have gone quiet... no longer listening for His voice... or refusing to accept His will as it is spoken.
“We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.”
John 9:31 ESV
Sometimes doing God’s will hurts, and we suffer in it... our loved one dies, our business fails, we don’t get the promotion, or a crippled leg isn’t made straight. It is in our will that asks for all of these things and more, but God’s will, and plan for us is perfect... even in our suffering, and even as we grow silent, and our spirit seeks to resolve itself with God’s. Jesus suffered, and He died; all of this in the will of God, but He also defeated death, sin, and came to sit at the right hand of God.
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”
Mark 16:19 ESV
So how do we approach God in our prayers? Are we seeking His will or ours? Are we satisfied with living lives, and praying prayers in complete silence? Are we claiming to be faithful without reconciling ourselves to God’s will? Is the suffering in life causing us to turn our backs, and a deaf ear to the voice of God? I challenge each of us to honestly, and fully seek God’s will in our prayers, and our lives... if we do that then the silence gives way to joyous song.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for those hard times when in silence I seek to reconcile my will with yours. I thank you for those times when I struggle to subdue my desires, and place you before myself. I thank you for the suffering that can come as I do your will, and as I pray within it. Help me Holy Father to trust in you, and to hold fast to your promise that all things work together for good for those who love you, and are called according to your purpose. Your purpose, and your will... lead me Father in that, because I find it more challenging to do the hard things of your will than to love who you for who you are. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who’s Will is my commandment, and in who’s silence my own will is brought under subjugation. Praised be your name for your goodness, and love! I give you all glory Lord, as I shine forth from within the folds of your mercy and grace. Never let me be satisfied to live in your silence, but let your voice forever be in my ear whispering your good will for me.
Rich Forbes