Why can't I feel God when I pray? 

I've heard many stories of people experiencing God in very special ways, and I feel that God should do that for me too. So, why can't I feel God when I pray?

This is one of the great questions we have received. Here is a respond to this very important issue:

Expectations towards God are many and varied. Feelings are an important part of our lives, and we often think about God where feelings are concerned too. We want to feel God. When we don't feel him the way we expected to, it's easy to imagine he's not listening.

In one talk recounted in the Bible, Paul declares that God isn't far from any one of us. In him we live and move and have our being, and Paul encourages us to seek God, maybe feel him and find him. God can be experienced – in ways that affect your feelings. The Bible contains many stories where people experience God. And the Bible encourages us to constantly be filled with The Holy Spirit. When this happens, you will be able to experience love, joy and peace.

But it's important to understand that God intended your relationship to him for a much deeper level than just your feelings. It's about faith. God tells us in the Bible that he's always listening when we pray – even when we feel like our prayers only reach the ceiling – and that he answers. This is something we KNOW!

”I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life”, 1 John says, and adds: ”This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.”

God isn't only listening when we feel like he's listening. A lot of the time our feelings can trick us. During those times, it's good to have something more solid than our feelings to fall back on: faith in what God says. Knowing counts for more than feeling. When you've accepted forgiveness and new life from God, you can approach God with confidence – whenever and wherever. He's always listening and cares about every area of your life. Practice talking to Him about everything. He sees what you're thinking and accepts every thought you send His way. Learn to give thanks in all circumstances!

If you haven't accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you can talk to him right now and invite him into your life. He's listening. As you grow in your relationship with God, you will experience that God communicates back to you in different ways. Not least through the Bible. Read the promises he's given you about prayer, and trust that he'll do what he says, whatever you feel. This is what's meant by praying in faith. When you keep holding fast to His Word, even when things get tough, your faith will become strong. You'll receive exciting answers to prayer and experience how good and caring God is in different ways.