When God Says Nothing: Learning to Sit With Him in the Silence

Have you ever set aside time to pray, gotten quiet before God, waited…and waited…and waited…

And nothing?

• No sudden revelation.
• No Scripture practically jumping off the page.
• No unmistakable answer to the prayer you’ve been praying for months.
• No goosebumps. No breakthrough. No spiritual fireworks.

Just…quiet.

And if you’re being honest, maybe part of you has wondered, God, are You going to say anything?

I recently heard a story on a Christian radio station that made me think about this in a completely different way.

A man had been intentionally practicing setting aside quiet time to spend with God. On one particular day, he sat there for one and a half, and then to two hours.

And nothing happened. Nothing.

Can you imagine? Because somewhere around the hour mark I probably would have been like a toddler waving their hands in their parent’s face yelling, “HELLO?! Are you listening to me?!” 😂

Eventually, he got up and went inside. As he opened the door, he basically said to God, “Really???“

He had given God all that time, and as far as he could tell, God hadn’t said a darn thing.

But then the point hit him:

Quiet time isn’t always about getting something from God. Sometimes it’s simply about spending time with God.

And man, something about that realization hit me.

What If God Himself Is the Point?

Be honest.

When you really love someone, or even when you really, really like someone, don’t you just want to be around them all the time?

• You don’t need an agenda.
• You don’t need them to entertain you.
• They don’t have to buy you anything, fix anything, explain anything, or even say very much.

You just enjoy being near them.

I remember when I was younger, I had a crush on a guy at my church. He was older than me, but teenage me did not care about those minor details. I just thought he was cute. Lol.

And sometimes just seeing him was enough to put the stupidest grin on my face.

Of course, because I was a teenager, I then had to immediately rein it in so nobody would notice. You know how it is. 🙂‍↕️

But think about that.

His presence made me happy, and he wasn’t even doing anything!

So why is it that every time you enter God’s presence, you expect God to do something?

• Why does every quiet time have to produce a word?
• Why does every prayer have to end with an answer?
• Why does every moment with God need to result in a miracle, a confirmation, a blessing, a breakthrough, a sign, or a detailed five-step plan for what you’re supposed to do next?

When did spending time with God become so…transactional? 😳

God Is Your Father, Not an ATM

Yes, God wants you to ask.

Jesus Himself taught His disciples to pray for their daily needs. God invites you to bring your worries, desires, fears, requests, and impossible situations to Him.

In fact, Matthew 6:8, NLT reminds you that your Father already knows exactly what you need before you even ask Him.

So this isn’t an argument against asking.

• Ask.
• Pray boldly.
• Pray specifically.
• Pray repeatedly when necessary.
• Believe God for miracles.

But don’t reduce your relationship with Him to what God can give you.

Imagine someone saying they loved spending time with you, but every single time they showed up, they needed something.

• Can you fix this?
• Can you give me that?
• Can you change this situation?
• Can you answer this question?
• Can you open this door?
• Can you make this happen?

At some point, wouldn’t you wonder:

Do you actually want me…or do you just want what I can do for you?

That’s worth sitting with.

Because sometimes you can unintentionally approach God like an ATM.

• Insert prayer.
• Insert worship playlist (that’s the PIN #)
• Wait for transaction to process.

But God is not a machine dispensing answers.

He’s your Father.

He’s the One your soul was created to know.

And sometimes intimacy means sitting with Him even when you don’t feel like you’re walking away with something new in your hand.

Jesus Made Time to Get Away With the Father

What’s especially striking is how often Jesus Himself intentionally withdrew from everyone else to pray.

Luke 5:16, NLT says that Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness for prayer.

Not once and not only when He was in trouble.

Often.

Mark 1:35, NLT tells you that before daybreak, Jesus got up, went somewhere isolated, and prayed.

And Luke 6:12, NLT records Jesus going up on a mountain and praying to God all night. (Meanwhile, the guy on the radio was complaining about 1.5-2 hrs!!! And I’m not judging because I likely would have called it at 1 hour!).

Jesus wasn’t squeezing God into whatever five minutes remained after everything else got done.

• He withdrew.
• He made space.
• He sought solitude.

And this is Jesus we’re talking about. The Son of God.

So if Jesus regularly withdrew from the crowds, the noise, the demands, and the work to spend time with the Father, how much more do you need those moments?

Silence Doesn’t Mean Nothing Is Happening

Here’s what I want to hammer into your head: Silence Doesn’t Mean Nothing Is Happening

• You may genuinely sit with God…and feel nothing.
• You may pray…and hear nothing.
• You may read your Bible…and there may be no dramatic revelation that morning.

That doesn’t make the time wasted.

Psalm 62:1, NLT says, “I wait quietly before God.”

Notice the posture.

Quiet. Waiting. Not demanding. Not performing. Not trying to force an experience. Just being before God.

And Psalm 73:28, NLT says something even simpler: “But as for me, how good it is to be near God!”

Maybe that’s the lesson.

Sometimes in your quiet time with God, nothing needs to happen. Being near Him is the thing that’s happening.

Sometimes in your quiet time with God, nothing needs to happen. Being near Him is the thing that's happening. #forsinglewomenonly Share on X

Try Spending Time With God Without an Agenda

So here’s your challenge.

Set aside some quiet time with God this week and intentionally don’t make it about getting something.

• You can worship.
• You can read Scripture slowly.
• You can thank Him.
• You can tell Him what’s on your heart.

And then? Be quiet.

Put the phone away. Turn off the noise. Stop mentally checking whether the experience is “working.”

• Don’t demand a revelation.
• Don’t strain to hear something.
• Don’t assume something went wrong if you don’t feel anything dramatic.

Just stay. Enjoy Him.

Let God be God without requiring Him to perform for you.

Because maybe you’ve gotten so accustomed to expecting something from God that you’ve forgotten the privilege of simply having God.

Is it possible you've gotten so accustomed to expecting something from God that you've forgotten the privilege of simply having God? #forsinglewomenonly Share on X

And that’s the beautiful tension I want you to practice:

Go into His presence expecting nothing…and expecting everything.

Expect nothing in the sense that you’re not demanding a miracle, an answer, a sign, or a spiritual experience. But expect everything in the sense that you understand what you already have.

• You have access to your Father.
• You get to come near.
• You get to sit with the God who created you, knows you completely, loves you deeply, and still invites you closer.

And sometimes? That’s enough. Actually… That’s everything.

Go into His presence expecting nothing…and expecting everything. #forsinglewomenonly Share on X