Michael St. Pierre

September 6, 2021

When God Feels Absent, What do You Do?

“I just don’t get it, when people talk about spiritual dryness…” the priest said. He scoffed at the idea that an individual would have a sense that God had withdrawn Himself from the relationship.

The priest’s response struck me as out of touch with laypeople, who often say that their prayer lives are like sandpaper on hot day. Poll priests and sisters and brothers and I imagine they would say the same.

Spiritual dryness is real. It’s that season of your prayer life, be it short or for a prolonged period of time, when you just don’t feel God’s presence. Many of the saints deal with this so if you can relate, you’re in good company!

How do you gently accept this season of your prayer life? And, how do you walk through it to the other side?

This article from Christianity Today resonated with me, describing a Protestant Christian’s journey through dryness. The individual goes from resisting the dryness to accepting it with docility, recognizing that God was very much at work, all feelings aside.