“I take some comfort in the fact that virtually all the masters of spirituality recount a dark night of the soul. Sometimes it passes quickly and sometimes it persists for months, even years. I have yet to find a single witness, though, who does not tell of going through a dry period. Teresa of Avila spent twenty years in a nearly prayer-less state before breaking through to emerge as a master of prayer. William Cowper had prayer times in which he thought he would die from excess of joy; but later he described himself as “banished to a remoteness from God’s presence, in comparison with which the distance from the East to the West is vicinity.”

Religious radio and television, as well as certain books and magazines, say little of God’s silence. By their accounts God seems to speak volubly, commanding this minister to build a new sanctuary and that housewife to launch a new Web-based company. God represents success, good feelings, a sense of peace, a warm glow. To an audience regaled by such inspiring stories, an encounter with the silence of God hits like a shocking exception and stirs up feelings of inadequacy.

The exception, in fact, is the cheery optimism of modern consumer-oriented faith. For centuries Christians learned what to expect on the spiritual journey from the bumbling pilgrim in “Pilgrim’s Progress,” from John of the “Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul,” from Thomas a‘ Kempis’s challenging “Imitation of Christ.” The one mentor who wrote most openly about the presence of God, Brother Lawrence, composed his thoughts while washing dishes and cleaning toilets.

If I suffer a time of spiritual aridity, of darkness and blankness, should I stop praying until new life enters my prayer? Every one of the spiritual masters insists, No. If I stop praying, how will I know when prayer does become alive again? And, as many Christians have discovered, the habit of not praying is far more difficult to break than the habit of praying.”

Philip Yancey
Grace Notes

Being a real and true born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is not always going to be a warm and fuzzy feeling within your own heart and mind. Becoming a believer in Christ does not automatically move a person onto “Easy Street” for the remainder of their lives. Quite the contrary, becoming a Christian causes you to make significant changes in your life and lifestyle and places even greater responsibilities and performance requirements upon your shoulders. Through Christianity, a new man comes onto the scene and the old man of the past passes away. Things and life changes for the new believer.

While joy will fill your heart and mind after once accepting Christ into your life, one will quickly discover that there are also new requirements for your own application and personal spiritual growth. The personal growth cycle is going to last for the remainder of your entire life here on earth. It is going to require you to read and feed on the Word of God everyday. It going to cause you to listen, watch, and learn what to do and how to apply what you are learning in the course of living out your life here on earth.  Fellowship with Jesus and your Father God, as well as joining a local church and becoming an active participating member of that church must come into play. Make no mistake about it…you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, need to become part of the active body of a local church! It is here in your new church family that you will initiate new personal relationships with other people who will love you and care for you as you grow and fellowship with God Almighty, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God. You need to join a local church!

The closer you draw to your Heavenly Father, God, the better will be your personal growth, the more will be your knowledge and understanding of what you are learning, and about what you need to be doing with your new-found belief. Your real spiritual journey in life really begins once you accept the Lord Jesus into your heart.

God wants you, as a believer, to commune with Him. He desires you to fellowship with Him as well as worship Him. These things and accomplishments, of course, will come through your attendance and participation in a local church body of believers.

The best and most effective manner and way of communicating with your Heavenly Father, God, is through your own brain,…your own mind…your spiritual heart. This is, of course, accomplished through your personal prayer-life between you and Him. The Holy Scriptures repeatedly tell us to pray and continue to pray to God everyday, regardless of the circumstances and situations surrounding our busy life here on this earth. We are consistently told to continuously pray to our Creator regardless of whether or not we actually receive what we perceive to be direct answers back from God as relates to our prayerful requests and supplications.

The Word of God specifically tells us to trust and obey the directions of God. In the Book of Mark, Chapter 11, verses 22–24, NKJV God gives us direct personal instructions:

(22) “So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God.’

(23) For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in
his heart, but believes that those things he says will be
done, he will have whatever he says.

(24) Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you
pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have
them.’ ”

Jesus further tells us in the Book of Mark, Chapter 9, verse 23, NKJV:

(23) “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are
possible to him who believes.”

So personal belief in those things for which you pray remains paramount to your prayer life. God loves to hear His children praying to Him.

There will, of course, be times in your prayer life when you do not sense any response to your prayer requests. God is under no personal obligation or requirement to audibly answer your individual request. BUT…silence is an answer! I personally believe, that when God remains silent to your prayers, that is His way of telling you to continue to persevere and believe in Him and to perform what you know to be the right and righteous things in and around the living of your own life. Always believe in Him and His power and sovereignty. God always has a good reason for directing you to do the things you prayerfully discuss with Him. Regardless of what you want or would like to have God do for you and for others,….you personally continue to pray. Perseverance through unceasing prayer, always gets God’s attention.

God does indeed answer prayer…..we, His children, don’t always listen and therefore often miss His directed response!

God’s Greatest Blessings to All of You………………