If you don’t feel close to God right now, you’re not alone.
Your prayers feel empty. Your Bible reading feels routine. Worship feels hollow. And the presence of God, the warmth, the joy, the sense of His nearness, feels distant.
You love God. You want to feel close to Him. But you don’t. And it’s confusing. Discouraging. Maybe even terrifying.
What if God left? What if you did something wrong? What if this is how it’s going to be from now on?
Here’s what I need you to hear:
Spiritual dryness doesn’t mean God left. It means you’re being tested. And what you do in this season will determine whether you grow deeper in faith or drift further away.
Let me show you what spiritual dryness actually is, why it happens, and what to do when you’re in the middle of it.
What Is Spiritual Dryness? (And What It’s NOT)
Spiritual dryness is a season where you don’t feel God’s presence the way you used to.
Prayer feels mechanical. Scripture feels flat. Worship feels forced. You go through the motions, but the emotion is gone.
And here’s what most Christians get wrong: Spiritual dryness is not the same as spiritual distance.
You can feel dry and still be close to God. You can feel nothing and still be walking in obedience. Your feelings are not a reliable measure of your position with God.
Let me say that again: Your feelings do not determine your standing with God.
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.”
Abiding is not a feeling. It’s a position you maintain through obedience.
Brother Lawrence, said it perfectly: “We must remain faithful in the dry periods by which God proves our love for Him.”
God isn’t testing whether you feel close to Him. He’s testing whether you’ll obey when you don’t.
Why Spiritual Dryness Happens
Spiritual dryness doesn’t have just one cause. Sometimes it’s something you did. Sometimes it’s not. And knowing the difference matters.
Here are the most common reasons:
1. Neglect of spiritual disciplines: If you’ve stopped praying, reading Scripture, or gathering with believers, your soul will naturally feel dry. Trees don’t thrive when disconnected from water.
2. Unconfessed sin: Sin creates a barrier. Not because God leaves, but because sin dulls your ability to sense Him (Isaiah 59:2).
3. Suffering or trial: Grief, loss, disappointment. When life is hard, it’s hard to feel anything, including God’s presence. And that’s okay.
4. God is testing your faith: Sometimes God allows spiritual dryness to see if you’ll obey Him when you don’t feel Him. Will you worship when worship feels empty? This is the test (Hebrews 11:6).
5. A season of deeper intimacy: Sometimes God withdraws the sense of His presence, not as punishment, but as an invitation to love Him for who He is, not for how He makes you feel.
Here’s what most Christians miss: Each cause requires a different response.
If it’s neglect, you need to return to the basics.
If it’s sin, you need to confess and repent.
If it’s suffering, you need compassion and endurance.
If it’s a test, you need obedience without emotion.
If it’s an invitation to deeper intimacy, you need to press in, not pull back.
But you can’t navigate spiritual dryness effectively if you don’t know what’s causing it. And that’s where most people get stuck.
What Psalm 42 Teaches About Spiritual Dryness
Psalm 42 is one of the most honest passages about spiritual dryness in Scripture. The psalmist is experiencing deep spiritual thirst:
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (v. 1-2)
He’s honest about his struggle. He doesn’t pretend everything is fine. But here’s what’s remarkable:
Verse 5 — “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him.”
The psalmist doesn’t just sit in his feelings. He preaches to himself.
Charles Spurgeon said it perfectly: “As though he were two men, the Psalmist talks to himself. His faith reasons with his fears, his hope argues with his sorrows.”
This is the key to navigating spiritual dryness:
You don’t surrender to your feelings. You confront them with truth.
“Soul, why are you discouraged? God is still faithful. He’s still present. Even if I don’t feel it, I will hope in Him.”
What This Looks Like in Real Life
So what do you actually do when you’re in spiritual dryness?
You wake up. You don’t feel God. Prayer feels empty. You don’t want to read Scripture.
Here’s the key:
You show up anyway. You pray even when it feels pointless. You read even when it feels flat. You worship even when you feel nothing.
Why? Because feelings follow obedience, not the other way around (John 15:10). And while you’re obeying in the dryness, you preach to yourself:
“God, I don’t feel You right now. But You promised You’d never leave me (Hebrews 13:5). So I’m choosing to trust what I know over what I feel.”
That’s navigating spiritual dryness.
But doing this once doesn’t solve it. You need a systematic approach that helps you identify the cause, apply the right response for your situation, and build daily practices that anchor you when you can’t feel God.
Most Christians try to figure this out alone, and end up more discouraged than when they started.
Want Weekly Encouragement for Seasons Like This?
Navigating spiritual dryness requires more than a one-time read. You need consistent reminders of truth, practical tools to stay grounded, and encouragement to keep showing up.
Join Becoming Whole, my weekly email where I send you:
- Biblical teaching to ground your identity
- Practical tools to manage your thought life and habits
- Encouragement to stay aligned with who God says you are
If you’ve been struggling with chaotic thoughts, inconsistent habits, or feeling disconnected from God, this is your weekly reset.
