He had prayed until his voice cracked—and then prayed some more.
Pete’s prayer list had grown long in the past year: his daughter’s health, the factory layoff notice, the growing ache in his wife’s chest. Each morning before the sun crept up over the sycamore out front, Pete knelt with the same requests in hand—hoarse whispers of hope lifted to a still ceiling. He wanted to believe God was listening. But some mornings… it felt like no one was on the other end of the line.
Have you ever wondered the same? Is God even listening when I pray?
The Bible offers a gentle, steady answer.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God,” writes John, “that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14–15).
There it is: He hears us. Every time, every word. Even the ones too tender to speak.
Yet, if that’s true, why the ache of silence?
It helps to remember prayer is not like pressing buttons on a vending machine. We don’t insert perfect words to dispense immediate answers. Prayer is a relationship, not a transaction. It’s a child leaning in close to their Father—sometimes talking, sometimes weeping, sometimes just crawling into His lap and letting silence say everything.
Romans 8:26 reminds us: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Isn’t that beautiful? When you’re grasping for words, when your chest tightens and you can only breathe hope and ache, the Holy Spirit translates all of it and carries it up to the very ear of God.
But there’s another voice we must quiet—the one that says unanswered prayer means unheard prayer. That silence means God has turned away. It isn’t true.
Pete found that voice growing louder each day. Until one morning he read this line in Psalm 66: “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer” (Psalm 66:18–19).
The verse didn’t accuse him—it comforted him. Pete’s heart, though hurting, wasn’t hard. He wasn’t playing games with God; he was clinging to Him. And that promise broke through like sunlight. God has surely listened.
Maybe you’ve felt that too—like your prayers get lost in the ether, like God is miles away or preoccupied. Maybe you’ve watched others receive miracles while you pace the hallway at midnight, still waiting. If that’s where you are, can I offer this gentle truth?
God’s silence doesn’t mean absence. His delays aren’t denials. Even His “no” or “wait” comes wrapped in a deeper mercy or a better story.
Sometimes the answer is slow in coming because the answer is shaping you—quietly building strength in your soul you didn’t know you needed. Sometimes the delay is digging a well of dependence, so that even when the answer finally arrives, your trust will rest not in the outcome, but in Him.
That’s why Scripture roots our confidence, not in answered prayer—but in the God who hears.
Perhaps you picture God measuring your worth by your words, or His timing by your performance. But that’s not the Father Jesus spoke of. This Father knows what you need before you even ask. He listens with perfect attention and deep love. He isn’t withholding love until you get it right—He’s drawing close, bending low, shaping eternal plans we’d never dare to dream.
I once met a woman who prayed for her son for twenty years. She told me, with a spark in her aged eyes, “I thought He hadn’t answered. But He was answering the whole time—just deeper than I could see.”
That’s the truth we hold to. Even when the prayer goes unanswered, it’s never unheard. The silence isn’t empty—it’s thick with God’s presence.
So if your prayers have gone quiet, if heaven feels sealed, don’t give up. Don’t let the silence fool you. God hears. He sees. And He is working still.
You are not forgotten.
You are being held.
He had prayed until his voice cracked—and then prayed some more.
Pete’s prayer list had grown long in the past year: his daughter’s health, the factory layoff notice, the growing ache in his wife’s chest. Each morning before the sun crept up over the sycamore out front, Pete knelt with the same requests in hand—hoarse whispers of hope lifted to a still ceiling. He wanted to believe God was listening. But some mornings… it felt like no one was on the other end of the line.
Have you ever wondered the same? Is God even listening when I pray?
The Bible offers a gentle, steady answer.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God,” writes John, “that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14–15).
There it is: He hears us. Every time, every word. Even the ones too tender to speak.
Yet, if that’s true, why the ache of silence?
It helps to remember prayer is not like pressing buttons on a vending machine. We don’t insert perfect words to dispense immediate answers. Prayer is a relationship, not a transaction. It’s a child leaning in close to their Father—sometimes talking, sometimes weeping, sometimes just crawling into His lap and letting silence say everything.
Romans 8:26 reminds us: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Isn’t that beautiful? When you’re grasping for words, when your chest tightens and you can only breathe hope and ache, the Holy Spirit translates all of it and carries it up to the very ear of God.
But there’s another voice we must quiet—the one that says unanswered prayer means unheard prayer. That silence means God has turned away. It isn’t true.
Pete found that voice growing louder each day. Until one morning he read this line in Psalm 66: “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer” (Psalm 66:18–19).
The verse didn’t accuse him—it comforted him. Pete’s heart, though hurting, wasn’t hard. He wasn’t playing games with God; he was clinging to Him. And that promise broke through like sunlight. God has surely listened.
Maybe you’ve felt that too—like your prayers get lost in the ether, like God is miles away or preoccupied. Maybe you’ve watched others receive miracles while you pace the hallway at midnight, still waiting. If that’s where you are, can I offer this gentle truth?
God’s silence doesn’t mean absence. His delays aren’t denials. Even His “no” or “wait” comes wrapped in a deeper mercy or a better story.
Sometimes the answer is slow in coming because the answer is shaping you—quietly building strength in your soul you didn’t know you needed. Sometimes the delay is digging a well of dependence, so that even when the answer finally arrives, your trust will rest not in the outcome, but in Him.
That’s why Scripture roots our confidence, not in answered prayer—but in the God who hears.
Perhaps you picture God measuring your worth by your words, or His timing by your performance. But that’s not the Father Jesus spoke of. This Father knows what you need before you even ask. He listens with perfect attention and deep love. He isn’t withholding love until you get it right—He’s drawing close, bending low, shaping eternal plans we’d never dare to dream.
I once met a woman who prayed for her son for twenty years. She told me, with a spark in her aged eyes, “I thought He hadn’t answered. But He was answering the whole time—just deeper than I could see.”
That’s the truth we hold to. Even when the prayer goes unanswered, it’s never unheard. The silence isn’t empty—it’s thick with God’s presence.
So if your prayers have gone quiet, if heaven feels sealed, don’t give up. Don’t let the silence fool you. God hears. He sees. And He is working still.
You are not forgotten.
You are being held.
