DAY 1 — When God Stops Speaking: What Silence Really Means | Understanding Spiritual Silence

Family, today we are starting to discuss something many believers struggle with, but seldom admit out loud: those seasons when God feels silent. 

Do you sometimes pray constantly, morning, noon, and night, several times… and nothing? You read the Word… and it feels flat. You’re worshipping… but it feels like you’re going through the motions, like the fire isn’t there, you feel like something feels off?

And sometimes you wonder, “Lord, did I drift? What did I do wrong? How have I misrepresented You? Did I disappoint You? Are You speaking and I’m just not hearing?”

Well, I can say that I have been there…so you’re not alone. 

The Bible talks about many people who knew God, loved God, and still ran into seasons where His voice wasn’t as clear. And often, the silence wasn’t punishment — it was revelation.

Let’s go to our anchor text, 1 Samuel 15:22–23 (NKJV): “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

Family, this wasn’t God scolding Saul. It was God telling him the truth. Saul didn’t lose the voice of God all at once. It started with partial obedience. He obeyed the parts he liked… the parts that made sense to him… the parts that didn’t stretch him. And that’s where the drift began. 

This slow drift is what eventually led to something far more serious — the moment when God’s Spirit finally lifted from Saul, which is exactly where we’re going next.

This account in the Bible, Family, is a lesson for each of us. Why? Because we do the same sometimes. Not intentionally. Not rebelliously. But subtly - without even realizing it.

God says forgive — we forgive halfway.God says release it — we release it gradually and we say its a process.God says wait — we pause, but then push ahead anyway.God says go — and fear makes us stay still a bit too long.

And slowly, the sensitivity begins to fade. We drift away from the people God placed in our lives as helpers, we step out of alignment little by little, and before we even notice it, the counsel that once kept us grounded becomes the very thing we avoid — and the voice that was once loud now feels faint.

Not because God stopped speaking, but because we stopped responding with full surrender.

Let me bring in a Bible example we don’t talk about often: Amaziah, in 2 Chronicles 25. Verse 2 (NKJV) says: “And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart.”

Imagine that. Doing the right thing… with the wrong posture. This was obedience on the outside, but resistance on the inside.

What we are being taught here is that when our heart is divided, the clarity of God’s voice becomes divided as well.

However, it is so good to know that spiritual silence is not God abandoning us. Hallelujah. Rather, it is often God revealing where alignment slipped.

Let’s look at this from a real-life perspective: Think about a family member you’ve repeated yourself to five, ten, 20 times. Eventually, you stop explaining — not because you’ve left them, but because they’ve stopped truly listening. The silence itself becomes the message: “Pause. Realign. Hear me again.”

Another Bible example is Zacharias in Luke chapter 1. When the angel told him Elizabeth would have a son, he doubted. And what happened? He was struck silent — not as punishment, but as protection. 

God shut Zacharias’ mouth so he wouldn’t speak fear over a miracle in progress. And when his heart aligned, his voice returned. Isn’t that something? Can any of us identify for having a similar situation happen in our lives or with someone we know?

Family, silence is not rejection. It’s recalibration. It’s God saying, “Come back to the last instruction I gave you.”

So let us ask ourselves today, gently — because this is not condemnation, it’s clarity:

“Where did I drift? Where did I delay obedience? Where did I adjust God’s instruction to fit my comfort? Where did I let fear, pride, busyness, or hurt drown out His whisper?”

These are important questions and we have to be honest with God and with ourselves, because herein lies the hope in all of this: God’s silence is never final. He always waits for our “yes.”

And the moment our hearts soften, the clarity begins to return — just like Hosea 10:12 calls us to ‘break up our fallow ground’ so the Lord can rain righteousness, refreshing, and direction on us again.

Family, God’s Voice doesn’t come back with anger — it comes back with direction… comfort… wisdom… restoration. And many of us ought to learn how to accept our repentant brothers and sisters back with such grace.

Saul’s tragedy was not that he messed up — we all do. Saul’s tragedy was that he stopped surrendering.

Family, if at any time we feel like heaven has grown quiet, we can take courage. That silence is an invitation. A reset. A gentle call to realign our hearts so we can hear God clearly again.

God has not stopped speaking. He is not and has not gone silent.

Family, God is just waiting for you and for me to be still enough — surrendered enough — sensitive enough — to hear Him speaking once again.