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Prayers

Orthodox prayers for when God feels far away

Prayers for when God feels far away or silent, and you pray but feel nothing.

Picture: Raphael and workshop, Jacob’s Dream, 1518–19

5 prayers

When God seems silent

How long, O Lord (Psalm 13)

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me for ever?How long will You hide Your face from me?

How long must I struggle with my thoughtsand carry sorrow in my heart all day?How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer me, O Lord my God.Give light to my eyes,or I will sleep the sleep of death,and my enemy will say he has beaten me,and my foes will rejoice when I stumble.

But I have trusted in Your mercy;my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.I will sing to the Lord,for He has been good to me.

Traditional wording, 1611

How long wilt Thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.I will sing unto the LORD, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.

David asks God “How long?” four times and does not pretend all is well. Then he asks God to look on him and answer, and he ends by trusting in His mercy.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

Draw near

Swift and steady comfort

Give swift and steady comfort to Your servants, O Jesus,when our spirits lose heart.

Do not be parted from our souls in affliction;do not be far from our minds in times of trouble,but always come quickly to meet us.

Come near to us, come near, You Who are everywhere.As You were always with Your apostles,unite Yourself also to those who long for You, O Compassionate One,so that, joined to You,we may praise and glorify Your all-holy Spirit.

Traditional wording, 1891

A speedy and firm consolation give, O Jesus, to Thy servants when our spirits are distressed.

Depart not from our souls in affliction, nor stand far off from our minds in trouble, but for ever go before us.

Draw nigh unto us, draw nigh, Thou that art everywhere present.As Thou wast always with Thine Apostles, O Compassionate One, be Thou with us who long for Thee, that, being conjoined with Thee, we may hymn and glorify Thy most Holy Spirit.

The Orthodox sing it in Lent at the Third Hour, one of the short services of the day. It asks Christ not to be far from us in trouble, and calls Him to come near, the One Who is everywhere.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with Shann’s 1891 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: G. V. Shann, Euchology: A Manual of Prayers of the Holy Orthodox Church, 1891.

Where Shann has “be Thou with us”, the Greek asks Christ to unite Himself to those who long for Him.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

When you thirst for God

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

As a deer longs for streams of water,so my soul longs for You, O God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.When shall I come and appear before God?My tears have been my food day and night,while all day long people say to me,“Where is your God?”

I remember these things as I pour out my soul:how I went with the crowdand led them in procession to the house of God,with shouts of joy and thanksgiving,a multitude keeping the feast.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?Why are you so troubled within me?Hope in God, for I will yet praise Himfor the help of His presence.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me,so I remember You from the land of the Jordan,from the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.Deep calls to deep at the roar of Your waterfalls;all Your breakers and Your waves have swept over me.By day the Lord sends His steadfast love,and at night His song is with me,a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God, my Rock,“Why have You forgotten me?Why must I go about mourning,oppressed by the enemy?”My foes’ taunts crush me to the bone,as all day long they say to me,“Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, O my soul?Why are you so troubled within me?Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,my Savior and my God.

Judge me, O God, and plead my caseagainst an ungodly nation.Rescue me from deceitful and unjust people.For You are God my stronghold.Why have You rejected me?Why must I go about mourning,oppressed by the enemy?

Send out Your light and Your truth;let them lead me.Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,to the place where You dwell.Then I will go to the altar of God,to God, my joy and my delight,and I will praise You with the harp,O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?Why are you so troubled within me?Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,my Savior and my God.

Traditional wording, 1611

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts: all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me.Yet the LORD will command His lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

I will say unto God my Rock, Why hast Thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.For Thou art the God of my strength: why dost Thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles.Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God my God.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

The psalmist longs for God like a deer for water, and asks when he will stand before Him again. Three times he tells his downcast soul to hope in God.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

Where were You?

Where were You? (St Anthony)

Where were You?Why did You not show Yourself at the beginningand put an end to my pain?

And a voice came to him:Anthony, I was here,but I was waiting to see you fight.Since you held out and were not beaten,I will always be your help,and I will make your name known everywhere.

Traditional wording, 1892

Where wert Thou?Why didst Thou not appear at the beginningto make my pains to cease?

And a voice came to him,Antony, I was here, but I waited to see thy fight;wherefore since thou hast endured, and hast not been worsted,I will ever be a succour to thee,and will make thy name known everywhere.

After a night of torment, St Anthony asked God where He had been. A voice answered, “Anthony, I was here,” and promised to be his help from then on.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of St Athanasius’s Life of Antony, with H. Ellershaw’s 1892 English beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: H. Ellershaw, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1892.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

In a dry season

My soul thirsts for You (Psalm 63)

O God, You are my God;I seek You at dawn.My soul thirsts for You,my body longs for You,in a dry and weary landwhere there is no water.

So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary,to see Your power and Your glory.Because Your steadfast love is better than life,my lips will praise You.

So I will bless You as long as I live;in Your name I will lift up my hands.My soul will be satisfied as with the richest food,and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.

When I remember You on my bed,I think of You through the watches of the night.For You have been my help,and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to You;Your right hand holds me up.

Traditional wording, 1906

O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee.My soul thirsteth for Thee;my flesh also longeth after Thee,in a barren and dry land where no water is.

Thus have I looked for Thee in holiness,that I might behold Thy power and glory.For Thy loving-kindness is better than the life itself:my lips shall praise Thee.

As long as I live will I magnify Thee in this manner,and lift up my hands in Thy Name.My soul shall be satisfied, even as it were with marrow and fatness,when my mouth praiseth Thee with joyful lips.

Have I not remembered Thee in my bed,and thought upon Thee when I was waking?Because Thou hast been my helper;therefore under the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul hangeth upon Thee;Thy right hand hath upholden me.

David tells God that his soul thirsts for Him in a dry and weary land. The prayer ends with God’s right hand holding him up.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew (verses 1 to 8), with Isabel Hapgood’s 1906 wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Hapgood’s English reads “in holiness” where the Hebrew has “in the sanctuary”, and it turns the line about remembering God on one’s bed into a question.

Where it comes from, and the original

Scripture for this

14But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!” 15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you! 16Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.”

Isaiah 49:14-16 Zion says God has forgotten her. God answers that even if a mother could forget her nursing child, He will not forget her.

Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.

Isaiah 50:10 Isaiah speaks to the one who fears God yet walks in darkness without light, and tells him to trust the Lord.

11Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice.

1 Kings 19:11-12 When the LORD passed by Elijah, He was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. After them came a still, small voice.

7Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. 9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea, 10even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast. 11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”— 12even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

Psalm 139:7-12 David asks where he could flee from God’s presence, and finds nowhere. Even the darkness is not dark to Him.

27God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’

Acts 17:27-28 Paul told the people of Athens that God is not far from any one of us. In Him we live and move.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:8 James promises that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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