Liturgies for Littles

When I Think God Is Not Listening

Trusting that God hears me even when I cannot tell

Read by Beautiful Eulogy. Audio arrives November 19, 2026.

The Word ESV

Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
Psalm 5:1-3

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
Psalm 34:4-6

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
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 5:14-15

I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Habakkuk 2:1-3

Devotional

You prayed. You actually meant it.

You closed your eyes. Maybe you said it out loud so it would feel more real.

And then nothing happened. No answer. No feeling. Just the ceiling and the same question still sitting there.

And after a while a hard thought sneaks in.

Maybe he isn't listening. Maybe he doesn't even hear me.

Here's something that might help. People who knew God really well have felt that exact thing.

David started one of his prayers like this: "Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning."

Now think about that. Why would David ask God to listen if he already felt heard?

Because some mornings heaven was quiet for David too.

But look at what he does next: "In the morning you hear my voice... and watch."

He kept praying. And then he watched. Like somebody standing at the window waiting for a car they know is coming.

And David had reason to wait like that. He'd seen it before. "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles."

God did hear him. God did answer.

There were just some in-between parts where David had to trust it before he could see it.

Habakkuk knew about the in-between too. He had real complaints. Things were bad and God seemed slow.

So he said something bold: "I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower."

He parked himself like a guard on a wall and would not move until God said something.

And God answered him: "If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."

Did you catch that? God didn't say no.

He said not yet.

Here's the most important thing in this whole page.

God being quiet is not the same as God being gone.

When you pray and hear nothing, your words didn't float up and disappear. John wrote, "If we ask anything according to his will he hears us."

He hears. That's a promise, not a feeling. Some days you won't feel it. The promise doesn't change when your feelings do.

And here's why you can count on it.

On the cross, Jesus cried out to his Father and got silence back. Real silence. He took the worst silence there's ever been, so that you'd never actually be unheard.

So keep praying. Pray in the morning. Pray when it feels pointless.

And then watch the window.

It might not come when you want it. It might not look like you pictured.

But the God who heard that poor man's cry hears yours.