July 15, 2025 • 18 mins
Ever feel like God is silent during prayer, especially in difficult times? It's not uncommon for men to feel like God has gone quiet.
We discuss ways to stay connected to faith, including being honest about emotions, recalling foundational beliefs, recognizing spiritual interference, and seeking support from other men of faith.
We also emphasize the importance of perseverance in prayer and offers practical advice for engaging with God, even when it feels challenging.
00:00 Introduction: Feeling Unheard by God
00:17 The Struggles of Modern Men
01:51 The Importance of Faith
02:20 When God Feels Distant
04:38 Steps to Reconnect with God
08:37 The Role of Spiritual Warfare
10:59 Biblical Examples of Struggle
12:25 Practical Tips for Prayer
16:42 Conclusion and Community Invitation
💪 Want to know how you measure up as a man? Take our free quiz, called How Manly Are You? and learn how you can get better at being a man. Download for free at manhoodtribes.com/manly. 💪
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Have you ever tried to talk toGod and you felt like nobody was
listening?
Maybe in the midst of somethingreally challenging.
You have tried to pray andyou've asked God for help, and
it seems like nothing has reallychanged.
You feel like you try to talk toGod and all you get is silence.
If you're a man who's beenfollowing along on this channel
for a little while, you knowthat we've been talking about
(00:22):
how difficult it is for men inour world right now that a lot
of the culture seems stackedagainst us, and life in general
just feels like it's more thanwe can bear at most times.
For many men in the midst ofthose kinds of situations, we
contend to try to lean on ourfaith.
We turn to God and we often goto God in prayer with simple
(00:42):
requests of things like, God,can you help me out here?
God, can you show me a wayforward?
God, can you get me throughthis?
God, can you just relieve thepain a little bit?
This is too much.
And yet many of those prayersoften feel like they go
unanswered and maybe evenunheard.
(01:04):
What's the point of praying?
Where is God in the midst of allof this?
When you're trying to reach outand connect to God and all
you're met with is silence, whatdo you do with that?
What does that do to your faith?
What does that do to yourperception, your understanding
of God?
How do you handle what yourrelationship with God looks like
when it feels like.
(01:25):
He's not really relating to youat all.
I wanna try to talk about thosethings today here on the Manhood
Tribes Channel.
My name's Don.
I'm your host here at ManhoodTribes, and my job really is to
do a few things here on thischannel.
I want to give you a clearvision of what it means to be a
man.
I want to give you a clearchallenge to build strong male
friendships, and I want to tryto provide you with a clear path
(01:49):
for how to do both of thosethings.
And part of doing those thingswell for many men is the way
that we handle our faith.
Now, if you followed along onthis channel, you know that I've
not been shy about talking aboutthe fact that I'm a Christian,
that my faith is reallyimportant to me, and that I also
believe that it should be to anyman that your faith, and
(02:09):
especially the way that I talkabout it in terms of your
ultimate allegiance, will reallyshape who you are as a man.
And so taking that seriously isimportant for all men.
But today I wanna particularlyaddress the challenge that many
of us as men face when it comesto our faith, is that it kind of
just feels like God isn't thereright now.
(02:31):
Especially as the world hasgotten so hard and so difficult
and the weight of all that weare carrying as men feels like
it is insurmountable.
In the midst of that kind of aseason, God kind of feels like
he's just sort of vanished.
Is he just leaving us with ourproblems to say, you know, okay,
you guys just go make the mostof it.
(02:53):
Or is he saying like, uh, yeah,you made this bed.
Now it's time for you to liedown in it.
You know that like we've createdall of our own problems and so
now we just have to deal withit.
Is that kind of what we think ofGod?
I think the challenge is thatmost men don't think of God that
way, especially if you've grownup in a Christian background.
You've probably had been toldthat God loves you, that he's
(03:14):
present with you, that he'snever leaving you, that he cares
about, even the smallest thingsin your life.
If all of that is true, that howdo we reconcile that with the
fact that in the midst of thesereally hard situations, when we
try to talk to God, when we tryto reach out to him, he just is
quiet.
He doesn't say anything.
He not only doesn't seem to beanswering our prayers, we're not
(03:37):
even really sure if he's hearingthem.
Where is he?
Where did he go?
And what do we do with all ofthat silence?
How does it shape our faith andhow does it shape us as men?
I.
There's a few things here that Iwant us to really try to pay
attention to today.
If you're a man of faith, I hopethat this is going to be really
(03:57):
helpful for you and that it'sgonna open your eyes to some of
the things that can be trueabout your faith and your
relationship to God if you'renot.
Yet a man of faith, that's okay.
I don't want you to tune outbecause you feel like, ah, this
episode just probably isn't forme.
I think there's some things herethat might challenge the way
that you have maybe thoughtabout faith or religion or God
or prayer that might cause youto rethink some things and maybe
(04:19):
go, ah, is there something tothis that I've missed?
Is this kind of a differentconversation than I've been told
is really what this is allabout.
So hang in there.
Just pay attention.
I think it'll be helpful for youno matter where you're coming
from in order to try to figureout how do you incorporate faith
into the midst of the challengesthat we as men are facing today.
The first thing that I'm gonnaencourage you to do when you are
(04:42):
faced with this situation whereit feels like God is not
answering your prayers or maybeeven listening to you, is that
number one.
You need to be honest about it.
You need to just name it.
You need to be real about what'sgoing on with you at a heart
level.
What is that causing you tothink, feel, or even believe
about God and about the way thatyou relate to him?
(05:06):
Is it causing you to think?
Hmm.
Maybe this God thing isn'treally real after all.
Maybe there isn't a God.
Maybe I've just made it all upin my head.
Is it causing you to think orfeel like maybe I've really done
something wrong.
Maybe I've sinned in some way,that God is mad at me or
disappointed with me, and he'snot gonna listen to what I have
(05:26):
to say until I get things rightwith him.
Is it causing you to think maybeGod just doesn't care?
Maybe.
I'm not all that important tohim, or maybe the things that
I'm praying about don't reallymatter to him at all.
Or is it pushing you to someother kind of emotion?
Maybe it's causing you to bereally angry with God and you
(05:47):
just want to give him the fingerand say, screw you God, and what
the heck?
You know?
Like, why are you leaving mealone in this kind of a
situation?
Haven't you promised to be withme?
I need you with me right now.
In the midst of all of thisdifficulty and this pain, where
did you go?
Be honest, God can handle youremotion.
Sometimes though you can't, andit's that being honest about it,
(06:09):
that's really important.
You need to recognize the effectof this situation and what it's
having on you and what it'shaving on your relationship with
God.
Okay, so start there because itwill help you be able to pay
attention to what might be goingon in this environment.
The second thing that you needto do after that is just
(06:30):
reorient yourself to who youknow God to be.
There's a saying that I've triedto teach to myself and practice
so that I'll believe it many,many times over the years, which
is that we shouldn't doubt inthe dark what we knew to be true
in the light.
I.
Meaning that in the midst ofreally difficult circumstances,
in the midst of a lot of pain,it can be really hard to hang on
(06:53):
to the things that we knew weretrue during easier or more
lighthearted times.
The things that were easy torecognize and believe about God
when life wasn't as difficult.
We can't let go of those thingsjust because life has gotten
difficult.
God didn't change, but life did.
And so we've got to figure outhow do we continue to believe
(07:15):
what we know to be true aboutGod even in the midst of those
really difficult kinds ofcircumstances.
So go back to the things thatyou know are part of your
foundational bedrock of yourfaith.
If you're a Christian like I am,go back to the things that
remind you that God is love.
He loves you.
He cares about you.
He sacrificed his only son foryou.
(07:37):
He wants to do anything he canto help you know him.
Read through some scripturesthat remind you that God
communicates with his people.
God talks to his people.
God hears prayers from hispeople.
God answers prayers of hischildren.
Okay.
Go back and read thosescriptures and remind yourself
(07:58):
of those truths so that you cansummon up that belief in you.
Again, think about thoseexperiences in your own life.
When has God been there for you?
When have you been sure of hislove and of his comfort and of
his?
Presence in your life.
Remind yourself of those things.
Remember what that was like, sothat in the midst of this pain,
(08:20):
you can try to clinging to thosethings and help yourself
remember and believe that thosethings still are true.
It's just feeling more difficultat the moment, but that doesn't
mean that you were ever wrong.
Don't doubt in the dark what youknew to be true in the light.
Okay, and because of that,number three, the third thing
that we need to talk about is torecognize that there is darkness
(08:44):
going on here.
There are real forces that areopposed to you being able to
communicate well with God.
Now, this may be kind of a newor a different category in terms
of the way that you think aboutyour relationship with God and
just the spiritual world ingeneral.
But the truth of the matter is,if you're coming from a
Christian standpoint, you canread all through your Bible and
(09:06):
see that the world is populated,not just with humans and
physical beings, but withspiritual beings as well.
Angels and demons and all kindsof spirits are readily present
throughout our scriptures andthroughout our story, but we
don't always take them veryseriously, and yet they take us
really seriously.
(09:26):
They're active in our lives inall kinds of ways, trying to
persuade us for and against ourrelationship with God.
And so know that in the midst ofyour darkness, in the midst of
your pain, with things beingreally difficult in your life
right now, there are intentionalforces who want to use that
difficulty and that pain todrive a wedge between you and
(09:50):
God.
One of the ways that they mightdo that is just to interfere
with your ability to hear fromhim.
They might, you know, do thespiritual equivalent of putting
cotton balls in your ears sothat it becomes really difficult
for you to actually hear God'swords.
It's like the pain, the volumeof the pain in your life has
been ratcheted up so high thatall you can hear is the pain and
(10:11):
you can't really hear the wordsof God to you.
So maybe in your prayers, whatyou need to do is pray against
those spiritual forces ofdarkness.
Pray that no interference wouldcome between you and the voice
of God, that no spiritual powerwould be able to hinder God's
words to you.
Pray those things.
(10:32):
Begin with that and see if thatmight help.
Let some light into theconversation might clear the fog
away a little bit so that thevoice of God becomes just a
little bit more clear to you,just a little bit more obvious
that yes, God does want tocommunicate to you, he is
speaking to you.
You might just be having a hardtime hearing, and that's part of
(10:53):
the challenge of learning tolisten to God in the midst of
some really difficult scenarios.
Now.
If this is you and you are goingthrough this, I want to just
remind you that you are in goodcompany, okay?
This has been men throughouttime as we have sought to follow
God, have had a hard time beingable to communicate with him,
especially in the midst of painand difficult circumstances.
(11:16):
Whether you look at stories fromthe Bible of.
People like David as he was onthe run from King Saul in the
armies of Israel for many, manyyears before he ever became
King.
Or whether you look at someonelike Job who dealt with the loss
of nearly everything he ownedand everyone that he loved,
trying to figure out what wasGod doing in his life.
(11:37):
Or you look at someone likeJonah who did hear clearly from
God and then decided to run fromthat, and then had a hard time
hearing from God until herepented and did what he knew
God was asking him to do.
Even Jesus in the Garden ofGethsemane on the night before
he died, wrestled in prayer withGod over what he was supposed to
do versus what he really wantedto do.
(12:00):
All of those things aredifficult for us.
Pain and difficult circumstancesmake prayer difficult, and it's
okay to admit that and to behonest about it.
Now in the midst of thosedifficulties, what can we do to
be able to help us get back to aplace where we are hearing more
clearly from God and where ourcommunication and our prayer
(12:22):
life with him feels like it'smore consistent.
Number one, just remind yourselfthat God's silence doesn't mean
his absence.
Just because it seems like Godis quiet right now doesn't mean
that God has abandoned you.
Okay?
That speaks earlier to, uh,reminding yourself about the
truth of what you know aboutGod.
(12:42):
Okay.
Don't come to wrong conclusions,just because it seems like God
is quiet.
His silence doesn't mean that heis absent.
In fact, he's very near andwanting to communicate with you,
so keep pressing in Number two.
You probably need to get aroundsome other Christian men who are
also praying and can pray foryou.
(13:03):
Let them know that you're havinga hard time hearing God.
In the midst of all of thisdifficulty and pain, ask them to
pray for you and to comealongside you as you pray as
well, and ask them to prayspecifically that you would
better be able to hear the voiceof the Lord, that whatever is in
the way or interfering with yourability to hear from God would
be cleared and that God wouldspeak to you.
(13:26):
Number three.
Here's where you just need to bereally honest about what it is
that you're praying about andwhat kind of answer you're
hoping for.
Sometimes in the midst of areally difficult or painful
situation, we might be prayingfor something and really wanting
to hear one specific answer.
Maybe you've got a family memberwho's sick and you're praying
(13:47):
very specifically for thatfamily member's healing.
God doesn't seem to be sayinganything about that.
Maybe that's because you're not.
Open to hearing whatever answerGod wants to provide.
You're really only open tohearing one answer and that's
that.
Yes, God is gonna heal thatfamily member.
Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.
Maybe what he wants from you isnot for you to clinging to that
(14:09):
one answer, but to clinging tohim.
And then in the midst of drawingclose to him, he will be willing
to give you an answer to yourprayer request.
Be open and be honest about whatit is that you're looking for,
and if you can lay down youranswer or your desired answer in
humility, then you might clear apath for God to be able to be
(14:30):
honest with you regardless ofwhatever answer it is that he's
prepared to give.
And last but not least, just bepatient.
Take time.
Don't give up on praying.
Pray.
In many ways, if prayingsilently in your bedroom isn't
working for you, then try adifferent way.
Try walking around in a gardenpath and praying out loud.
(14:53):
Try writing down your prayers ina journal.
Try singing some worship songsthat reflect the heart of what
your prayers are about.
Do other things that help youengage your body and your spirit
and prayer in maybe a way that'sdifferent or new for you as a
way to just.
Try to get to God.
Try to help your heart connectto the heart of God, and in
(15:14):
doing so, you may open up thatchain of communication that
you're really longing to haverestored with God.
All of those things can bethings that can help you and
your ability to pray and to hearfrom him.
As you continue to listenthrough the pain.
Just know that the silence mightbe part of the shaping.
(15:35):
God might be using this silenceto draw you closer to him.
It's not because he's mean orvindictive, or certainly not
because he doesn't want to talkto you, but it might be that
what he wants is a closerrelationship with you, and in
the midst of this pain, you'removing towards him in ways that
you.
Haven't recently, life was good.
(15:57):
You maybe didn't feel like youneeded God all that much, and
now here in a really difficultsituation, you really do want
him close and he's, he's tryingto say to you, I want you close
at all times.
I want you close in the badtimes.
And the good I.
He might be using this silenceto shape you, to move you closer
(16:17):
to him, to help you develop thestrength and the stamina to
continue connecting andcommunicating with him, even on
the other side of this darknessand this pain.
So allow him to do that.
That is a really good thing.
You will enjoy your relationshipwith him even more, and you'll
establish something that will belong lasting regardless of the
(16:38):
outcome of this particularsituation.
Okay.
I hope that this has beenhelpful for you today.
I hope that in the midst of somedifficulties, it's provided you
with a way forward to be able tohelp you engage with God better.
If you enjoy this kind ofcontent, I would love for you to
like and subscribe the videodown below.
And I would also try toencourage you that you need to
(17:00):
be around some other like-mindedmen who are pursuing this same
kind of content, who are lookingto grow in their relationships
with God as well, and to try tobe close to him in ways that
help them navigate this world asmen.
I've got just the place for youto do that.
It's a part of our ManhoodTribes community.
In fact, if you go to manhoodtribes.com/community, you'll
(17:22):
find a way to join the list forwhen the community is open.
This community is going to helpyou be able to get better at
being a man.
It's gonna help you get betterat following Jesus, and it's
gonna connect you with otherlike-minded men who are trying
to do the same.
So again, go to manhoodtribes.com/community and sign up
for when that community is openfor you to join.
(17:44):
Now, I wanna leave you byencouraging you to comment about
this video in the comments downbelow, just.
Put something about what are youwrestling with in your
relationship with God?
Let me know the answer to thatquestion, and I'm excited to be
able to engage with you aroundthose comments.
I'll look forward to talking toyou next time here on the
Manhood Tribes Channel.
(18:04):
I'll see you then.
Have you ever tried to talk toGod and you felt like nobody was
listening?
Maybe in the midst of somethingreally challenging.
You have tried to pray andyou've asked God for help, and
it seems like nothing has reallychanged.
You feel like you try to talk toGod and all you get is silence.
If you're a man who's beenfollowing along on this channel
for a little while, you knowthat we've been talking about
(00:22):
how difficult it is for men inour world right now that a lot
of the culture seems stackedagainst us, and life in general
just feels like it's more thanwe can bear at most times.
For many men in the midst ofthose kinds of situations, we
contend to try to lean on ourfaith.
We turn to God and we often goto God in prayer with simple
(00:42):
requests of things like, God,can you help me out here?
God, can you show me a wayforward?
God, can you get me throughthis?
God, can you just relieve thepain a little bit?
This is too much.
And yet many of those prayersoften feel like they go
unanswered and maybe evenunheard.
(01:04):
What's the point of praying?
Where is God in the midst of allof this?
When you're trying to reach outand connect to God and all
you're met with is silence, whatdo you do with that?
What does that do to your faith?
What does that do to yourperception, your understanding
of God?
How do you handle what yourrelationship with God looks like
when it feels like.
(01:25):
He's not really relating to youat all.
I wanna try to talk about thosethings today here on the Manhood
Tribes Channel.
My name's Don.
I'm your host here at ManhoodTribes, and my job really is to
do a few things here on thischannel.
I want to give you a clearvision of what it means to be a
man.
I want to give you a clearchallenge to build strong male
friendships, and I want to tryto provide you with a clear path
(01:49):
for how to do both of thosethings.
And part of doing those thingswell for many men is the way
that we handle our faith.
Now, if you followed along onthis channel, you know that I've
not been shy about talking aboutthe fact that I'm a Christian,
that my faith is reallyimportant to me, and that I also
believe that it should be to anyman that your faith, and
(02:09):
especially the way that I talkabout it in terms of your
ultimate allegiance, will reallyshape who you are as a man.
And so taking that seriously isimportant for all men.
But today I wanna particularlyaddress the challenge that many
of us as men face when it comesto our faith, is that it kind of
just feels like God isn't thereright now.
(02:31):
Especially as the world hasgotten so hard and so difficult
and the weight of all that weare carrying as men feels like
it is insurmountable.
In the midst of that kind of aseason, God kind of feels like
he's just sort of vanished.
Is he just leaving us with ourproblems to say, you know, okay,
you guys just go make the mostof it.
(02:53):
Or is he saying like, uh, yeah,you made this bed.
Now it's time for you to liedown in it.
You know that like we've createdall of our own problems and so
now we just have to deal withit.
Is that kind of what we think ofGod?
I think the challenge is thatmost men don't think of God that
way, especially if you've grownup in a Christian background.
You've probably had been toldthat God loves you, that he's
(03:14):
present with you, that he'snever leaving you, that he cares
about, even the smallest thingsin your life.
If all of that is true, that howdo we reconcile that with the
fact that in the midst of thesereally hard situations, when we
try to talk to God, when we tryto reach out to him, he just is
quiet.
He doesn't say anything.
He not only doesn't seem to beanswering our prayers, we're not
(03:37):
even really sure if he's hearingthem.
Where is he?
Where did he go?
And what do we do with all ofthat silence?
How does it shape our faith andhow does it shape us as men?
I.
There's a few things here that Iwant us to really try to pay
attention to today.
If you're a man of faith, I hopethat this is going to be really
(03:57):
helpful for you and that it'sgonna open your eyes to some of
the things that can be trueabout your faith and your
relationship to God if you'renot.
Yet a man of faith, that's okay.
I don't want you to tune outbecause you feel like, ah, this
episode just probably isn't forme.
I think there's some things herethat might challenge the way
that you have maybe thoughtabout faith or religion or God
or prayer that might cause youto rethink some things and maybe
(04:19):
go, ah, is there something tothis that I've missed?
Is this kind of a differentconversation than I've been told
is really what this is allabout.
So hang in there.
Just pay attention.
I think it'll be helpful for youno matter where you're coming
from in order to try to figureout how do you incorporate faith
into the midst of the challengesthat we as men are facing today.
The first thing that I'm gonnaencourage you to do when you are
(04:42):
faced with this situation whereit feels like God is not
answering your prayers or maybeeven listening to you, is that
number one.
You need to be honest about it.
You need to just name it.
You need to be real about what'sgoing on with you at a heart
level.
What is that causing you tothink, feel, or even believe
about God and about the way thatyou relate to him?
(05:06):
Is it causing you to think?
Hmm.
Maybe this God thing isn'treally real after all.
Maybe there isn't a God.
Maybe I've just made it all upin my head.
Is it causing you to think orfeel like maybe I've really done
something wrong.
Maybe I've sinned in some way,that God is mad at me or
disappointed with me, and he'snot gonna listen to what I have
(05:26):
to say until I get things rightwith him.
Is it causing you to think maybeGod just doesn't care?
Maybe.
I'm not all that important tohim, or maybe the things that
I'm praying about don't reallymatter to him at all.
Or is it pushing you to someother kind of emotion?
Maybe it's causing you to bereally angry with God and you
(05:47):
just want to give him the fingerand say, screw you God, and what
the heck?
You know?
Like, why are you leaving mealone in this kind of a
situation?
Haven't you promised to be withme?
I need you with me right now.
In the midst of all of thisdifficulty and this pain, where
did you go?
Be honest, God can handle youremotion.
Sometimes though you can't, andit's that being honest about it,
(06:09):
that's really important.
You need to recognize the effectof this situation and what it's
having on you and what it'shaving on your relationship with
God.
Okay, so start there because itwill help you be able to pay
attention to what might be goingon in this environment.
The second thing that you needto do after that is just
(06:30):
reorient yourself to who youknow God to be.
There's a saying that I've triedto teach to myself and practice
so that I'll believe it many,many times over the years, which
is that we shouldn't doubt inthe dark what we knew to be true
in the light.
I.
Meaning that in the midst ofreally difficult circumstances,
in the midst of a lot of pain,it can be really hard to hang on
(06:53):
to the things that we knew weretrue during easier or more
lighthearted times.
The things that were easy torecognize and believe about God
when life wasn't as difficult.
We can't let go of those thingsjust because life has gotten
difficult.
God didn't change, but life did.
And so we've got to figure outhow do we continue to believe
(07:15):
what we know to be true aboutGod even in the midst of those
really difficult kinds ofcircumstances.
So go back to the things thatyou know are part of your
foundational bedrock of yourfaith.
If you're a Christian like I am,go back to the things that
remind you that God is love.
He loves you.
He cares about you.
He sacrificed his only son foryou.
(07:37):
He wants to do anything he canto help you know him.
Read through some scripturesthat remind you that God
communicates with his people.
God talks to his people.
God hears prayers from hispeople.
God answers prayers of hischildren.
Okay.
Go back and read thosescriptures and remind yourself
(07:58):
of those truths so that you cansummon up that belief in you.
Again, think about thoseexperiences in your own life.
When has God been there for you?
When have you been sure of hislove and of his comfort and of
his?
Presence in your life.
Remind yourself of those things.
Remember what that was like, sothat in the midst of this pain,
(08:20):
you can try to clinging to thosethings and help yourself
remember and believe that thosethings still are true.
It's just feeling more difficultat the moment, but that doesn't
mean that you were ever wrong.
Don't doubt in the dark what youknew to be true in the light.
Okay, and because of that,number three, the third thing
that we need to talk about is torecognize that there is darkness
(08:44):
going on here.
There are real forces that areopposed to you being able to
communicate well with God.
Now, this may be kind of a newor a different category in terms
of the way that you think aboutyour relationship with God and
just the spiritual world ingeneral.
But the truth of the matter is,if you're coming from a
Christian standpoint, you canread all through your Bible and
(09:06):
see that the world is populated,not just with humans and
physical beings, but withspiritual beings as well.
Angels and demons and all kindsof spirits are readily present
throughout our scriptures andthroughout our story, but we
don't always take them veryseriously, and yet they take us
really seriously.
(09:26):
They're active in our lives inall kinds of ways, trying to
persuade us for and against ourrelationship with God.
And so know that in the midst ofyour darkness, in the midst of
your pain, with things beingreally difficult in your life
right now, there are intentionalforces who want to use that
difficulty and that pain todrive a wedge between you and
(09:50):
God.
One of the ways that they mightdo that is just to interfere
with your ability to hear fromhim.
They might, you know, do thespiritual equivalent of putting
cotton balls in your ears sothat it becomes really difficult
for you to actually hear God'swords.
It's like the pain, the volumeof the pain in your life has
been ratcheted up so high thatall you can hear is the pain and
(10:11):
you can't really hear the wordsof God to you.
So maybe in your prayers, whatyou need to do is pray against
those spiritual forces ofdarkness.
Pray that no interference wouldcome between you and the voice
of God, that no spiritual powerwould be able to hinder God's
words to you.
Pray those things.
(10:32):
Begin with that and see if thatmight help.
Let some light into theconversation might clear the fog
away a little bit so that thevoice of God becomes just a
little bit more clear to you,just a little bit more obvious
that yes, God does want tocommunicate to you, he is
speaking to you.
You might just be having a hardtime hearing, and that's part of
(10:53):
the challenge of learning tolisten to God in the midst of
some really difficult scenarios.
Now.
If this is you and you are goingthrough this, I want to just
remind you that you are in goodcompany, okay?
This has been men throughouttime as we have sought to follow
God, have had a hard time beingable to communicate with him,
especially in the midst of painand difficult circumstances.
(11:16):
Whether you look at stories fromthe Bible of.
People like David as he was onthe run from King Saul in the
armies of Israel for many, manyyears before he ever became
King.
Or whether you look at someonelike Job who dealt with the loss
of nearly everything he ownedand everyone that he loved,
trying to figure out what wasGod doing in his life.
(11:37):
Or you look at someone likeJonah who did hear clearly from
God and then decided to run fromthat, and then had a hard time
hearing from God until herepented and did what he knew
God was asking him to do.
Even Jesus in the Garden ofGethsemane on the night before
he died, wrestled in prayer withGod over what he was supposed to
do versus what he really wantedto do.
(12:00):
All of those things aredifficult for us.
Pain and difficult circumstancesmake prayer difficult, and it's
okay to admit that and to behonest about it.
Now in the midst of thosedifficulties, what can we do to
be able to help us get back to aplace where we are hearing more
clearly from God and where ourcommunication and our prayer
(12:22):
life with him feels like it'smore consistent.
Number one, just remind yourselfthat God's silence doesn't mean
his absence.
Just because it seems like Godis quiet right now doesn't mean
that God has abandoned you.
Okay?
That speaks earlier to, uh,reminding yourself about the
truth of what you know aboutGod.
(12:42):
Okay.
Don't come to wrong conclusions,just because it seems like God
is quiet.
His silence doesn't mean that heis absent.
In fact, he's very near andwanting to communicate with you,
so keep pressing in Number two.
You probably need to get aroundsome other Christian men who are
also praying and can pray foryou.
(13:03):
Let them know that you're havinga hard time hearing God.
In the midst of all of thisdifficulty and pain, ask them to
pray for you and to comealongside you as you pray as
well, and ask them to prayspecifically that you would
better be able to hear the voiceof the Lord, that whatever is in
the way or interfering with yourability to hear from God would
be cleared and that God wouldspeak to you.
(13:26):
Number three.
Here's where you just need to bereally honest about what it is
that you're praying about andwhat kind of answer you're
hoping for.
Sometimes in the midst of areally difficult or painful
situation, we might be prayingfor something and really wanting
to hear one specific answer.
Maybe you've got a family memberwho's sick and you're praying
(13:47):
very specifically for thatfamily member's healing.
God doesn't seem to be sayinganything about that.
Maybe that's because you're not.
Open to hearing whatever answerGod wants to provide.
You're really only open tohearing one answer and that's
that.
Yes, God is gonna heal thatfamily member.
Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.
Maybe what he wants from you isnot for you to clinging to that
(14:09):
one answer, but to clinging tohim.
And then in the midst of drawingclose to him, he will be willing
to give you an answer to yourprayer request.
Be open and be honest about whatit is that you're looking for,
and if you can lay down youranswer or your desired answer in
humility, then you might clear apath for God to be able to be
(14:30):
honest with you regardless ofwhatever answer it is that he's
prepared to give.
And last but not least, just bepatient.
Take time.
Don't give up on praying.
Pray.
In many ways, if prayingsilently in your bedroom isn't
working for you, then try adifferent way.
Try walking around in a gardenpath and praying out loud.
(14:53):
Try writing down your prayers ina journal.
Try singing some worship songsthat reflect the heart of what
your prayers are about.
Do other things that help youengage your body and your spirit
and prayer in maybe a way that'sdifferent or new for you as a
way to just.
Try to get to God.
Try to help your heart connectto the heart of God, and in
(15:14):
doing so, you may open up thatchain of communication that
you're really longing to haverestored with God.
All of those things can bethings that can help you and
your ability to pray and to hearfrom him.
As you continue to listenthrough the pain.
Just know that the silence mightbe part of the shaping.
(15:35):
God might be using this silenceto draw you closer to him.
It's not because he's mean orvindictive, or certainly not
because he doesn't want to talkto you, but it might be that
what he wants is a closerrelationship with you, and in
the midst of this pain, you'removing towards him in ways that
you.
Haven't recently, life was good.
(15:57):
You maybe didn't feel like youneeded God all that much, and
now here in a really difficultsituation, you really do want
him close and he's, he's tryingto say to you, I want you close
at all times.
I want you close in the badtimes.
And the good I.
He might be using this silenceto shape you, to move you closer
(16:17):
to him, to help you develop thestrength and the stamina to
continue connecting andcommunicating with him, even on
the other side of this darknessand this pain.
So allow him to do that.
That is a really good thing.
You will enjoy your relationshipwith him even more, and you'll
establish something that will belong lasting regardless of the
(16:38):
outcome of this particularsituation.
Okay.
I hope that this has beenhelpful for you today.
I hope that in the midst of somedifficulties, it's provided you
with a way forward to be able tohelp you engage with God better.
If you enjoy this kind ofcontent, I would love for you to
like and subscribe the videodown below.
And I would also try toencourage you that you need to
(17:00):
be around some other like-mindedmen who are pursuing this same
kind of content, who are lookingto grow in their relationships
with God as well, and to try tobe close to him in ways that
help them navigate this world asmen.
I've got just the place for youto do that.
It's a part of our ManhoodTribes community.
In fact, if you go to manhoodtribes.com/community, you'll
(17:22):
find a way to join the list forwhen the community is open.
This community is going to helpyou be able to get better at
being a man.
It's gonna help you get betterat following Jesus, and it's
gonna connect you with otherlike-minded men who are trying
to do the same.
So again, go to manhoodtribes.com/community and sign up
for when that community is openfor you to join.
(17:44):
Now, I wanna leave you byencouraging you to comment about
this video in the comments downbelow, just.
Put something about what are youwrestling with in your
relationship with God?
Let me know the answer to thatquestion, and I'm excited to be
able to engage with you aroundthose comments.
I'll look forward to talking toyou next time here on the
Manhood Tribes Channel.
(18:04):
I'll see you then.
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