It’s easy to feel “God’s not listening,” “God doesn’t care about me,” or even, “God doesn’t exist.”

I was raised as an atheist. But I was also a child of the ’60s. The psychedelic art of Peter Max, psychedelic music of the Grateful Dead, and psychedelic drugs that were a norm at parties and sit ins, quickly moved me from atheist to agnostic. I was too much of a control freak to be a LSD-freak or pothead, but I did catch a contact high. There were a lot of unexplained synchronicities and “happenings” floating around at that time. Friends returned from India with talk of kundalini, past life memories, and visions of angels. When I looked in their eyes, I knew they were telling me the truth.

Still, “God” was not a comfortable word for me. Honestly, psychologists were more God-like to me than whoever God was supposed to be. I wasn’t adventurous to trip on acid and travel the world. At least shrinks helped me stop some self-destructive thinking and feel more lovable and empowered.

So I became a Gestalt psychotherapist … and, lo and behold, God found me! Was not expecting that. Did Fritz and Laura Perls, the founders of Gestalt therapy, have God in mind when they taught staying in the “here and now,” forgoing personal history for what was arising in the present moment, and shifting from field to contact boundary?

I don’t think so. But God arose within me as I found Presence in the present moment, and all my heretofore unanswered prayers were Answered. Of course, not in the way I had hoped, but that’s another story (A Course in Miracles, a form of spiritual psychotherapy came my way, and everything I’d ever counted on was flipped upside down. No need for psychedelics when mystical scripture is available.)

All of that to say, I found out I was praying in a way that does not get results. They say there are no atheists in foxholes, and when I felt down in the trenches, I had prayed in desperation. And I had felt bereft and abandoned. Yet, somehow, an inner wisdom arose in me and showed me a better way. It would be selfish not to share it with you. Here are five reasons I keep the faith even when it seems like God hasn’t answered:

In How You Can Talk With God, Paramahansa Yogananda tells us, “The trouble is not with Him, but with us. Our intuitive telephonic system is out of order. God is calling us and speaking to us, but we do not hear Him.” Even when I was convinced that God had not heard me because I specifically asked, and even begged, for something and did not get it, all that proved was that I was directing God to do what I thought best — rather than asking God for His guidance. We have to remain open to the possibility that what we think is best is not necessarily so. Our solutions may not be the Answer. Extend a little willingness to trust that God has heard you, even if you haven’t heard His reply — yet.

I had my fingers in my ears.
I didn’t realize that I was deliberately plugging up my hearing, which, of course, interfered with receiving God’s messages to me. In order to hear God, whose call is there for me (and you) continuously, all day and all night long, I needed to open myself to Him by releasing my desires, longings, and demands. The way to do this is to give everything to God. When I give God my desires, wishes, fears and sorrows, my resentments and jealousies, I am releasing blockages which clear my “ears” and makes it possible to “hear” Him.

My eyes were closed.
A Course in Miracles tells us, “You believe that what your physical eyes cannot see does not exist. This leads to a denial of spiritual sight.” Many spiritual paths speak of a third eye. Located in the space between the eyebrows is the sixth chakra, the energy center of enlightened vision, which brings the body’s eyes together into one single eye — a spiritual eye which gives us God’s Vision. God speaks to us with symbols. It may be an inner voice, or visions, or a coincidence which is more than coincidence. When I opened my mind, my ears and eyes revealed Him to me. You can google “spiritual eye meditation” to find exercises to help you open your sixth chakra, the third eye.

I was asleep.
In the Bible, the Adam and Eve story tells us that Adam fell into a deep sleep, but nowhere does it say that he awoke from this sleep. Again, more than one spiritual path tells us that this world is a dream or an illusion. A common reason that we think we can’t hear God is that we are in a deep, hypnotic sleep, utterly convinced that our dream is reality, when actually God is a reality beyond our human comprehension.

A compelling paragraph from A Course in Miracles states, “You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality. Is it your decision to do so? You recognize from your own experience that what you see in dreams you think is real while you are asleep. Yet the instant you waken you realize that everything that seemed to happen in the dream did not happen at all. You do not think this strange, even though all the laws of what you awaken to were violated while you slept. Is it not possible that you merely shifted from one dream to another, without really waking?”

I became obsessed with the question, “How can I awaken, and in that awakening hear what God has been whispering in my sleepy ear the entire time?” I found there are many ways. One is to quiet the mind through meditation. Another is to ask God to guide me in His way without setting my own agenda. The main thing is to listen receptively.

My seeds were germinating underground.
God is Love Itself, and I am God’s child. I’ve come to trust that any time I turn to God, I am deepening my relationship with Him. He is aware of me always. It is up to me to learn how to recognize His communication, which comes in many varied forms and symbols.

Every time I turned to God, I planted a seed of love in the ground. They are germinating. The buds will poke out from the earth and start to rise toward heaven — my seeds are blossoming. As I let myself trust this, just a little bit, I found that God’s Voice was with me all along.

These are five reasons to keep the faith when you don’t hear God. I’ve learned to open my heart, open my mind, and let God surprise me. Thinking too much blocks my ability to receive God’s bright, loving Communication. You can do this, too.

Take a moment, right now, to sit quietly with me and say, “Replace me with You, God.” Let’s be receptive together. Breathe … shake your arms and hands so your upper body relaxes. Let’s give one minute to God, right now, and allow an inner shift from worried to peaceful, from darkness to Light.

Now, be open to having a wonderful day today. A day unexpectedly filled with love and miracles. I’ll share it with you, if you’ll let me ❤

As an Interfaith Minister, Gestalt Coach, Psychotherapist, and AWA Certified Creative Writing Teacher, I’ve developed unique, potent ways for you to delve deep and discover your spiritual center. Scroll down …