Silence is Not Inaction

When you're tired of waiting on unanswered prayers

This past summer our family visited Gulf Shores, Alabama, and we had access to a quiet stretch of the beach. At least, it was quiet at dawn. One morning, our family was out enjoying the crashing waves, feeling almost as if we had the entire ocean to ourselves—when another family showed up. They planted their umbrellas, propped up their beach chairs, and promptly turned on a Bluetooth speaker. Loudly. Ugh. So much for our peaceful paradise.

Our world is just... noisy. Cars, cell phones, smart watches, televisions, iPads, talking toys—so many things compete for our hearing. And that can make silence too much to bear. When the power goes out, especially on a cold winter night, you realize how loud the hum of the refrigerator was. Silence can make us anxious.

So what do you do…when God seems silent? When you pray and pray and never seem to get an answer— not a yes or even a no, just… silence?

The disciples in the boat experienced a sort of silence from God. While the storm was raging around them, Jesus wasn’t just quiet, he was sound asleep! Silent. Still. And what was their response? Panic. “Master, carest thou not that we perish?!”

The children of Israel had a similar panic in Numbers 17 when, even after God showed His power by causing Aaron's rod to bud and establish his authority, they cried: “Behold we die, we perish, we all perish.” Talk about dramatic.

Silence feels like inaction. I see this in my children all the time. They will call to me from another room and I, silently, will begin walking towards them. If I don’t announce my coming, they’ll cry again, “Mommy!” I think to myself, ‘I heard you, child, I’m on my way. I just didn’t tell you.’

Sometimes I wonder if God is “on His way” to answer a prayer but I am too impatient. At times I look for God to answer me in the miraculous. Like Elijah, who looked for God in the wind, the earthquake, and fire—I expect earthquake answers sometimes. Last September I somehow pinched a nerve in my neck that caused my right thumb to go numb for weeks. “Oh, Lord,” I cried— “fix this now! Make this pain and numbness go away!” I wanted quick relief, not three months of slow-moving physical therapy.

When we walk through a difficult season and are met with silence from God, it’s hard for us to be still and accept the waiting. When all is quiet and nothing seems to be moving, our minds fill with doubts. Silence causes us to overthink, worry, and assume the worst. Satan pushes us to rush ahead and seek for answers. “You’re being left out! You’re falling behind!” he whispers.

But God is not afraid to move in quiet ways. Christ himself didn’t hesitate to respond with silence.

When Pilate demanded of Christ: "Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?" The Bible says that Jesus "answered him to never a word." (Matthew 27:14) Mark 15:3 describes how "[t]he chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing."

Still, silent waiting is hard. So what can we do?

Psalm 4 says: “be still...put your trust in the LORD.” Isaiah says: “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:25)

Still...
Quiet...
Trusting...

Moses and Caleb tried to still the children of Israel in their moments of panic. (Exodus 14:13, Numbers 9:8 and 13:30) Naomi instructed Ruth to sit still and wait for Boaz's decision. (Ruth 3:18) Being still and quiet does not always equal passive inaction. Sitting still requires trust.

Likewise, silence from God does not always equal inaction. Sometimes God needs us to calm down first and seek His still, small voice.

Pray. Wait. Trust. It's not just something to slap on a t-shirt. It's a decision of surrender to God.

Let me challenge you to unplug—literally. We fill our discomfort with content. We reach for our phones in the waiting room, check Facebook at stoplights, listen to our playlist on every walk. Instead, let’s practice just being quiet before the Lord. Find a verse and meditate on it throughout the week. Don't just rush through a prayer list of things you are worried about and panicking over. Stop assuming that silence is rejection. Trust that God heard your prayers, and maybe what feels like silence is an opportunity. An invitation from the Father to sit still long enough to know Him, not just hear from Him.

In closing, I’d like to share a prayer with you that I recently read by Susannah Spurgeon, and hope it will encourage you:

“I thank Thee for my waiting times… When Thou seemest slow to answer prayer, it is but to make me more eager for the mercy, or to teach me to ask with greater confidence, or that Thou mayest gather up Thy blessings in order to bestow them ‘exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.’”¹

Waiting, she wrote, can be resting. It renews strength. It gives hope a foothold. And if I may add, waiting grows our faith. Faith that doesn’t panic in the storm. Trust that is comfortable with silence.

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. — Psalm 62:5

He heard you.
He’s still in the boat or He may be on His way.
And He does all things well.

1. Spurgeon, Susannah (Mrs. C.H.). A Carillon of Bells to Ring Out the Old Truths of “Free Grace and Dying Love.” Passmore and Alabaster, [no date]. Archive.org, PDF download. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.