How to feel the presence of God when God feels far away

Have you ever felt a sense of distance from God, wondering where He is in your everyday life? Join me on this heartfelt journey in Holly's Highlights podcast as we explore this common struggle and the emotions that accompany it. Through personal stories and scriptural reflections, we'll discuss the significance of nurturing a genuine, daily relationship with God—beyond moments of crisis. Learn how God communicates with us, whether through subtle daily moments or significant gestures, and the essential practice of self-reflection to identify any unconfessed sins that might hinder our connection with Him. Discover how periods of spiritual waiting and seeking can lead to profound growth, strengthening your faith and intimacy with God.

Inspired by the poignant lyrics of a Tommy Walker song, the second chapter delves into our deep longing for Jesus' presence in our lives. This episode emphasizes the heartfelt desire for Him to be near and reveal Himself to us. By subscribing and joining my email list at www.hollycurby.com, we can stay connected - you'll receive more stories, insights, and encouragement to help navigate your faith journey. Tune in to Holly's Highlights and be inspired to trust in God's timing and ways, even when His presence feels distant, and learn to embrace the growth that can come from these experiences.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hi, friend, welcome to Holly's Highlights, a podcast designed to encourage, inspire and equip you to intentionally live your life full of purpose. I'm your host, holly Kirby, motivational speaker, leadership cultivator, marketing strategist and personal cheerleader. Let's check out today's highlights. We've all experienced heartbreak and hardships, whether from broken relationships, illnesses, financial strains, even loss of loved ones. But Facelift can help us embrace hope in the midst of our circumstances. And when you purchase a copy of Facelift through your local bookstore or even online retailer such as Barnes and Noble, walmart, target and Amazon, a portion of the proceeds goes to Huntsman Cancer Foundation. So whether you're looking for the next book for your book club or women's Bible study group, to read by yourself or even to give to someone to bring a lifting of their face, check out Facelift Embracing Hope Through your Heartaches. For more information, visit wwwhollykirbycom.

Speaker 1: 1:08

I take it as a great privilege and responsibility when I receive emails or even social media messages sharing with me prayer requests, life stories and how Facelift Holly's Highlights podcast, an article published or even a post I've shared on social media has impacted someone some way. But I also have a deep care for the emotions behind the questions. I recently received a prayer request from a reader who said they simply longed to hear God speak to them during the season that they were walking through. How many of us tend to relate with this reader, whether as a non-believer who wants to know what hearing from God would be like, or even the one who has a personal relationship with the Lord yet just feels that God is far away? Anyone feel they're in David's shoes when he cries out in Psalms 22, one through two my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh, my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. First and foremost, may James 1.6 hold us accountable that when we ask, we must believe and not doubt.

Speaker 1: 2:14

I then encourage you to evaluate what it is that you're looking for when you think of God feeling far away or not hearing his voice, or perhaps feeling his presence. On one hand, god is not a 911 God. Our relationship shouldn't be based on just seeking him when we need something or what direction we're needing to go on something, or an answer to something, or even confirmation of what we've already made up our own mind to do. God is a God of relationship. He desires that, not to be your God of crisis call only, but to have a daily personal relationship with Him, to truly know God. And if you don't have a personal relationship, my eye encourage you to just stop right here and go listen to Holly's Highlights Podcast, season 1, episode 11, on the hope of Christmas, where the plan of salvation, that invitation to have such a personal relationship with Him, is shared. And if you do have that relationship with the Lord, then it's as if Anne Graham Lotz would say when he speaks it's in the language of our own personal lives, through a verse or passage of scripture that just seems to leap off the page with our name on it.

Speaker 1: 3:25

Be cautious of not trying to hear or see or feel the Lord as another may, but rest in his goodness to speak directly to you as you need it. Have realistic expectations too. Is it some big grand gesture you're seeking, my friend? I've been a Christian for nearly 40 years and I can count on maybe one or two hands where I've seen or felt God in such a grandiose. Stop me in my tracks way. Now don't get me wrong. God is still the God of miracles and I have seen my fair share. Thank you, jesus.

Speaker 1: 3:58

And with that said, it's also the day-to-day. It may be a song that comes on the radio where I sense his direction, a bird bathing in the gutter as I drive down the street, which reminds me of his provisions, and I see the connection of him gently reminding me he's got me. It might be a text received from some random person in my contacts, or even the prayer of one of my children as we gather for dinner around the table at night. Now maybe you're thinking I've done all those things. I look for where he's at, I pray to see him in my day.

Speaker 1: 4:31

Well, have we evaluated what might be keeping us from feeling the presence of God personally? Is there a sin we haven't dealt with? Maybe one not confessed? Maybe even one that we've just accepted or we live with or live in Now, unbeknownst for us? This can cause a hardening of our hearts, so maybe we just need to take a deep dive in our personal life in pursuit of that reconciliation with the Lord, stepping out of that sin and stepping into our faith. Maybe at this point you are just ready to skip this episode, as you're, frustratingly, having been down that road and just haven't uncovered anything there either and your heart still longs to feel God Well, as Jeremiah 29, 13 assures us, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Sometimes God just wants us to pursue him, to press into him, to truly desire him. And by not feeling his presence, our prayer life might take a deeper dive. Our time in God's word may grow, our fellowship with other believers might strengthen. We even may find ourselves intentionally being still more often, but it's in this waiting where both our faith and our intimacy with the Lord are able to grow and strengthen and flourish.

Speaker 1: 5:54

Now, not feeling the presence of God can be frustrating. It can be confusing, even discouraging. I too have cried out to God at times, asking for him to just reveal himself to me, only to be met with a response that my parents taught me throughout my lifetime, and that is. Sometimes. God responds to us with a yes, sometimes a no and often a not. Yet my friend trust in His timing. John 16, 12 reminds us. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Know that God is not the author of confusion but of clarity, and find comfort in Joshua 1, 9 that God will be with you wherever you go. His timing, not ours.

Speaker 1: 6:39

So, my friend, continue to pray, to read his Bible, to gather with sisters and brothers in Christ, to study God's word and fellowship, to ask prayer warriors to pray for you. To go out and take that walk just to breathe, to go about your day intentionally looking for where God is and both where and how he would speak to you, to soul search that unconfessed sin and bring it before the throne of God To be still when God feels so far away. May you continue to walk by faith and not by sight. If you have a question, a prayer request or simply would like to share where you see God in your life right now, I'd be delighted to hear from you. Connect with me online at hollykirbycom that's wwwhollykirbycom or direct email me at hello at hollykirbycom. Whether we feel him near or afar, may the cry of our heart be that of the lyrics from a Tommy Walker song.

Speaker 2: 7:46

Jesus be near to me. Jesus be near to me.

Speaker 1: 8:25

Let me know you are here, how I need you, how I need you to reveal yourself to me, yourself to me. Better yet, subscribe. We can also stay in touch by joining my email list at hollykirbycom. That's H-O-L-L-Y, c-u-r-b-y dot com. Until next time, make it a great day for a great day.