Have you ever felt like God wasn’t speaking to you? Maybe you were praying and reading your Bible, but it just felt like God was distant or absent.
My church recently went through a series on the book of Jonah. In the first chapter, God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people there to repent. Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah rebels against God and tries to hide from him on a ship to Tarshish. There is a terrible storm, and Jonah tells the crew to throw him overboard and the seas will be still. God calms the sea when they throw him overboard and sends a big fish to swallow Jonah. In the belly of the fish, Jonah prays to God, thanking and praising God for saving him from the depths of the sea. While we don’t see God audibly respond to Jonah, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t moving.
The big fish took Jonah from his journey to Tarshish all the way to Nineveh. For context, Nineveh was about 500 miles northeast of Israel, and Jonah was headed to Tarshish which was 2,500 miles west of Israel! While Jonah was praying, God was making a way for Jonah to fulfill what God had called him to do, even when Jonah couldn’t see it. Over those three days and three nights, God guided the big fish to take Jonah from Tarshish all the way to Nineveh.
Our pastor made this point: Never underestimate what God might be doing in someone’s heart. During three days and three nights, Jonah was ready to do something that he was so adamant he wouldn’t do. And, the Ninevites were ready to repent.
This reminds me of the Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18:1-8. In the parable, the widow represents us, and the unjust judge represents God. In this parable, the widow seeks justice from the judge who refuses to give it to her. But the judge’s refusal doesn’t discourage the widow. Instead of giving up, she remains persistent. Eventually, the judge grants the widow’s request.
Jesus contrasts the unjust judge with God, who is just and loving. His point is: if an unjust judge can be moved by persistence, how much more will our loving and just Father respond to our persistent prayers? God hears our prayers, and he cares deeply for us and the cries of our hearts. That doesn’t always mean he’ll grant us exactly what we request if we persistently pray, but it does mean that God hears us, he cares for us, and he will respond in his perfect timing in his perfect will.
Jesus ends this parable with a question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This question challenges us in our own faith. Do we believe that God hears our prayers? Do we believe that his plans are for our good? Even in the silence, do we still believe that he is at work?
This question reveals something even deeper. Prayer isn’t just a way for us to ask God for what we want—it’s a way for us to have an ongoing relationship with him and align our hearts with his will, not our own. As we deepen our relationship with God through prayer, we can trust that, even in the silence, God hears us and cares for us deeply. And in the waiting, God is always at work.
Just as God used Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish to change not only the direction of his journey but also the state of his heart, God can also use seasons of waiting to transform us in ways we could never imagine.
Take time to reflect on your own prayer life. Is there something you’ve been persistently asking God for? How might he be using this time of waiting to change you?
Even when you can’t see the full picture, don’t give up. Keep praying and drawing close to God. He is listening, and he is working.
Kali Gibson is the editor-in-chief for So We Speak and a copywriter for the Youversion Bible App.
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