35 Bible Verses for Those Who Feel God is Silent

The silence feels deafening. You’ve been praying, waiting, seeking God’s voice, but all you hear is the echo of your own questions bouncing off what seems like an empty sky. You wonder if He’s listening, if He cares, or if you’ve somehow moved beyond the reach of His love. The very God who once felt so near now seems like a distant stranger, and you’re left wondering if you’re praying to anyone at all.

This season of divine silence isn’t a sign that God has abandoned you or that your faith is failing. Even the most devoted believers throughout history have walked through these valleys where heaven seems brass and prayers feel like they’re hitting a ceiling. David cried out from caves, Job questioned from his ash heap, and even Jesus felt forsaken on the cross. You’re in the company of saints who learned that God’s silence doesn’t equal His absence.

Sometimes God speaks in whispers that can only be heard when we stop straining so hard to listen. These verses remind us that His love remains constant even when His voice seems distant, and His plans continue working even when we can’t see or hear them unfolding.

Table of Contents

Bible Verses for Those Who Feel God is Silent

1. Psalm 13:1-2 – How Long, O Lord?

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

New International Version (NIV)

2. Isaiah 55:8-9 – His Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

English Standard Version (ESV)

3. Psalm 22:1-2 – My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.

New King James Version (NKJV)

4. Isaiah 45:15 – Truly You Are a God Who Hides Himself

Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways.

New Living Translation (NLT)

5. Habakkuk 1:2 – How Long Shall I Cry for Help?

Lord, how long must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

6. Job 23:8-9 – He Is Not There

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.”

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

7. Psalm 10:1 – Why Do You Stand Far Off?

Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

King James Version (KJV)

8. Lamentations 3:8 – Even When I Call and Cry for Help

even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

9. Job 30:20 – I Cry Out to You, But You Don’t Answer

I call to you, God, but you’re not listening; I stand to face you, but you don’t even look.

The Message (MSG)

10. Psalm 35:22 – Do Not Be Silent, O Lord

This You have seen, O Lord; Do not keep silence. O Lord, do not be far from me.

Amplified Bible (AMP)

11. Isaiah 64:12 – Will You Keep Silent and Punish Us?

In light of all this, will you still hold back, Lord? Will you keep quiet and continue to humiliate us?

New English Translation (NET)

12. Psalm 28:1 – Do Not Turn a Deaf Ear to Me

Lord, I call to You; my rock, don’t be deaf to me. If You remain silent to me, I will be like those going down to the pit.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

13. Psalm 44:23-24 – Awake! Why Do You Sleep?

Wake up! Do something, Lord! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Don’t desert us forever. Why do you keep looking the other way? Why do you ignore our sufferings and troubles?

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

14. Job 19:7 – Though I Cry, There Is No Justice

If I call for help, no one answers; if I protest, no one pays attention.

Good News Translation (GNT)

15. Psalm 77:7-9 – Has God Forgotten to Be Merciful?

Will the Lord reject us forever? Will he never again be pleased with us? Is his love gone forever? Has he stopped speaking for all time? Has God forgotten to be kind? Is he too angry to show us mercy?

New Century Version (NCV)

16. 1 Kings 19:11-12 – A Still Small Voice

“Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.” Just then, the Lord was passing by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a soft whisper.

International Standard Version (ISV)

17. Isaiah 50:10 – Who Walks in Darkness and Has No Light?

Who among you fears Adonai and obeys the voice of His servant? Though he walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in the name of Adonai and rely on his God.

Tree of Life Version (TLV)

18. Ecclesiastes 3:7 – A Time to Be Silent and a Time to Speak

a time to tear and a time to sew together, a time to be silent and a time to speak.

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

19. Psalm 83:1 – Do Not Keep Silent, O God

God, don’t keep silent. Don’t keep silent, and don’t be still, God.

World English Bible (WEB)

20. Job 14:13 – Oh, That You Would Hide Me in the Grave

Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

American Standard Version (ASV)

21. Isaiah 49:14-15 – The Lord Has Forgotten Me

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

22. Psalm 74:10-11 – How Long Will the Enemy Mock?

How long, O God, shall the adversary scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name for ever? Why do you hold back your hand, why do you keep your right hand in your bosom?

New American Bible (NAB)

23. Jeremiah 14:9 – Why Should You Be Like a Stranger?

Why shouldst thou become as a man astonied, as a strong man that cannot save? but thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and thy name is called upon over us, forsake us not.

Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB)

24. Psalm 42:9 – Why Have You Forgotten Me?

I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

English Revised Version (ERV)

25. Lamentations 5:20 – Why Do You Forget Us Forever?

Why for ever dost Thou forget us? Why dost Thou forsake us for length of days?

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)

26. Psalm 89:46 – How Long Will You Hide Yourself?

How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy fury burn like fire?

Darby Translation (DARBY)

27. Job 13:24 – Why Do You Hide Your Face?

Why dost Thou hide Thy face, and accountest me as Thine enemy?

Weymouth New Testament (WNT)

28. Psalm 102:2 – Do Not Hide Your Face From Me

Hide not thi face fro me; in what euere dai Y am troblid, bowe doun thin eere to me. In what euere dai Y schal inwardli clepe thee; here me swiftli.

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

29. Isaiah 8:17 – I Will Wait for the Lord

And I wil tary for the Lord, that hath hid his face from the house of Iaakob, and I wil looke for him.

Geneva Bible (GNV)

30. Psalm 27:9 – Do Not Hide Your Face From Me

Hyde not thy face from me, put not thy seruant away in displeasure: thou hast bene my succour, leaue me not, neither forsake me, O God of my saluation.

Bishop’s Bible

31. Luke 18:7-8 – Will Not God Give Justice?

And shall not God avenge his electe, which crye daye and nyght vnto him, ye though he differre them? I tell you, he will avenge them, and that quickly.

Tyndale Bible

32. Psalm 37:7 – Be Still Before the Lord and Wait

Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act. Don’t be envious of evil men who prosper.

The Living Bible (TLB)

33. Isaiah 30:18 – Blessed Are All Who Wait for Him

Yet the Lord still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love; he will conquer you to bless you, just as he said. For the Lord is faithful to his promises. Blessed are all those who wait for him to help them.

The Passion Translation (TPT)

34. Habakkuk 2:3 – The Vision Awaits Its Appointed Time

This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

The Voice Bible (VOICE)

35. Psalm 46:10 – Be Still and Know That I Am God

He says, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be honored among the nations. I will be honored in the earth.”

New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)

Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About God’s Silence

The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of seasons when God feels distant or silent. What’s remarkable is how many biblical heroes experienced these same feelings of abandonment and confusion. David, Job, Habakkuk, and even Jesus himself cried out, wondering where God was in their darkest moments. This tells us that feeling God’s silence doesn’t indicate spiritual failure or lack of faith; it’s often part of the human experience with the divine.

Scripture reveals that God’s silence isn’t the same as His absence. Sometimes He’s working in ways we can’t perceive, preparing answers we’re not yet ready to receive, or developing character in us that can only grow in the waiting. The Bible consistently shows that seasons of silence often precede seasons of breakthrough, that God’s apparent distance is sometimes the very space needed for our faith to mature.

What strikes me most is how the Bible validates our questions and complaints while simultaneously calling us to trust. It’s okay to wrestle with God’s silence, to bring our honest confusion and frustration to Him. In fact, these raw prayers often become the very pathway through which His presence is eventually experienced again.

Say This Prayer

Father, I’m struggling with Your silence right now. I’ve been calling out to You, searching for Your voice, looking for signs of Your presence, but it feels like You’re not there. The quiet is overwhelming, and I’m starting to wonder if You hear me at all or if I’ve somehow moved beyond the reach of Your love.

Help me remember that Your silence doesn’t mean You’ve abandoned me. Even when I can’t hear You or feel You near, help me trust that You’re still working, still caring, still present in ways I can’t understand right now. Give me patience in this waiting season and peace in the uncertainty.