A Liturgy for When You Can’t Feel God

Have you ever struggled with not being able to “feel” God? Of course, we know that God is not a feeling. But we are often troubled when our emotions don’t match up with the truth of who God is. If you’re struggling in this way, pray this prayer. You can pray aloud or silently—alone or with a friend. Be encouraged that, though our feelings shift and sway, our God is an immovable fortress of refuge for us.

Giver of the gift of emotion,

why do I feel nothing at all?

 

When I open Your Word or utter Your name

I don’t experience the thrill I used to.

 

I am shaken by the sudden absence of sensation.

I am troubled by the decline in my delight.

 

I fear that my lack of feeling

will drive You away—or worse—

that Your presence has already left me.

 

Remind me, O self-existent One

that before I could experience emotion,

the love You felt for me compelled You to action.

 

When I could not yet feel or even breathe

You felt pain in Your body.

You felt nails in Your hands.

You felt thorns in Your head.

You felt the sting of death

and the triumph of resurrection.

 

And You, O Lord, do not consist of my sentiments.

You are Sovereign even in the silence of my heart.

 

I am but change begetting change

but You, O Lord, are not.

 

Teach me, O God, that what I cannot feel

cannot change the way You feel about me.

Amen.

 

Additional resources for Experiencing God:

• How to Walk Through Seasons of Spiritual Dryness