Have you ever experienced a long season of Gods silence?

I know God has not left me and I know I haven't been the most obedient Christian in all my years of serving Him BUT I have not felt the presence of God in over 3 weeks and I'm getting a little fearful. =(

It really really feels like my faith is failing or something but I'm pressing in and trying to walk by FAITH and not by sight. I'm reciting scriptures, praying out loud, reading the psalms on my knees, repenting, crying out with tears but to no avail. What is happening to me? Please pray for me that I remain calm.

Have you ever experienced this? Or have you read any biographies of God not being felt all of a sudden?

Yes, I have experienced silence from the Lord. What I have found is that His silence is due to my walking further away from Him.

Regardless... Keep pressing on. He is worthy of all praise regardless if we are Hell bent or not. Might as well worship Him, as He is worthy.

Be blessed. The Lord is not one to lie. His promise of salvation is not void.

Oh yes. I have definitely experienced that.

During one 8 year period the Lord only spoke to me 3 times as I recall.

However, one was quite "spectacular" in retrospect. He appeared to me and then confirmed it. That appearance was to direct me in the single most critical decision I was about to make that would define the rest of my life and ministry. I was in my mid 30's at the time.

However, you would think after that He would be speaking and communicating constantly... He didn't and wasn't.

I continued to serve and pursue Him with all my being during that time.... but had no communication from Him during that 8 year period except the 3 that I mentioned.... at least not that I am aware of.

I want to encourage you though! Very often as we mature we will go for longer and longer periods without being aware of His tangible presence, for lack of another term. In essence He "hides" Himself from us to encourage us to pursue Him more intensely. If it stays easy we normally will not pursue as hard after Him. Also, He does this to see how we remain faithful and "WALK IN FAITH" as opposed to feeling or sight. If we will continue on in absolute faithfulness when we don't have that ability to "sense" Him with us then THAT IS walking by faith... not sight, or feeling, etc. And as we know from scripture THAT FAITH is precisely and exactly what pleases Him! Obedient and faithful even when all circumstances speak contrary to His Word.

The other great payoff is that this situation is often a "testing" to establish us for greater missions on the earth. You have to pass some testing before you are given greater spiritual authority and purposes. SO... keep on pursuing Him... He may want you to pursue deeper and come to deeper experiences with Him... or He may be testing you to see your faithfulness and willingness to walk totally on faith....or testing to see you ability to be used in greater power, authority, and ministry...of course it reveals this to you primarily.

That's my 2 cents and experience. Stay faithful... great blessing comes from it!

I think all Christians go through periods where God is silent. It brings to mind a good reading from Oswald Chambers:
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The Discipline of Hearing

"Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops"
—Matthew 10:27

Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark. . .”— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

I definitely know how you feel. Over a year ago I began a trial that I still haven't seen the end of. God spoke to me more in about three months than He had in six years. I stepped out on faith and obeyed Him in every step and it seemed like things were all falling into place. I was expecting some of God's promises to be fulfilled within weeks, and it seems as if God has been mostly silent for almost a year. Divinely appointed times of refreshing have come to keep me from throwing in the towel, but it hasn't been easy. I think the absense of the presence of God from his life was probably Job's biggest challenge. One morning he meets God intimately in prayer before the day even begins, the next day he looks all around him and can't feel God at all. I would advise you to do the obvious; Continue to search yourself and pray as you have been doing. Trust God that He knows which way you take, and will never be far from you.

I appreciate all the feedback and testimonies.

There's a voice that keeps saying you have sinned too much and the Holy Spirit has left you. But I know this is mercy. I know I was drifting and my heart was cold but I've never been in scripture more in my life. I'm realizing so much what sin does and whom I sinned against.

But it almost brought me to a place that I was doubting my salvation, doubting his existence, and fearing hell. To the point where I'm even afraid to open up the Word because I might find something now that tells me he has left me.

I felt unbelief and fear coming in hard but I know for sure that this isn't the begininng of unbelief but the begining of faith. I've been coasting to looong. And I've always been an emotional and feelings type person.

Greatest/darkest storm of my life I'm currently in. But thank you for the encouragement. Continue to pray that I don't lose heart and that 'I' never let him go.

Heavenly Father, allow your peace be upon our brother and upon all who seek your face. Lead us Lord from all which distracts and gather us into the arms of your abiding love. Meet us Oh Lord in the pathways of your light that early we might lift up our eyes to your heaven. Amen

Our faith often falters yet we must never entrust faith to feeling. On occasion the following verses have helped me to overcome dark thoughts of abandonment.

Malachi 3:7 (KJV)
7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.