Weekly Magazine | The Unanswered Prayers We Carry

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Dear Friends,

Have you ever prayed with everything in you… and heard nothing back?

Maybe you’re there right now—carrying a burden, waiting for a breakthrough, or wondering if God even hears you. Unanswered prayers have a way of shaking our confidence and stirring painful questions: Why hasn’t God moved? Did I do something wrong? Is He even listening?

We created this issue for those quiet, aching spaces—where hope feels heavy and God seems far. In it, you’ll find stories of women who have walked through devastating silence, spiritual confusion, and heartbreaking “not yets.” But you’ll also find the thread that holds them all together: a God who doesn’t abandon us in the silence. A God who stays.

If your faith feels weary or wobbly right now, we pray this issue meets you gently and reminds you: unanswered doesn’t mean unseen. Silence doesn’t mean forgotten. And you don’t have to carry your questions alone.

Encouraging You in God’s Truth,

Is God on Mute? | Lori Ann Wood
When prayers go unanswered and silence stretches long, it can shake the very foundation of our faith. Lori walks us through three lessons she learned in the depths of God’s silence, showing us how to hold on when heaven feels silent.

Unsinkable Faith | Dyann Shephard
A diagnosis, betrayal, and fear of the unknown pushed Dyann into unthinkable waters—but she chose to cling to Jesus anyway. Discover how her decision to trust in the aftermath of heartbreak became her anchor through every storm.

Grafted Through the Pain | Joni Eareckson Tada
In the quiet hours of chronic pain, Joni remembered a lesson from her uncle’s orchard: that wounds can lead to fruitfulness. This reflection will encourage you to lean into God’s pruning and trust the Vinedresser’s hand.

BONUS PRINTABLE POEM: Not As It Ought To Be | Jill Briscoe
When life doesn’t look the way we hoped, God still meets us there. This poem offers words for weary hearts—and reminds us that even in the silence, God is still writing the story.

🩷 For Your Heart
📖 Bible Verse of the Week
🙏 Prayer of the Week

Is God on Mute?

What Silence Taught Me About Prayer, Trust, and the Heart of God.

By: Lori Ann Wood

Slamming the door to the bedroom I shared with my sister, I knew it was the worst retaliation—giving my parents the silent treatment. Growing up, I understood silence only as a weapon.

All my life, I’ve struggled with the value of silence. Even pauses in conversations or unanswered emails feel especially awkward for me. It seems like a good communicator should be able to keep the talk flowing.

But several years ago, I embarked on a heart journey where I’m learning that sometimes silence can be the most effective communication of all. Especially when it comes to hearing from God.

My Silent Period

After visiting my family doctor with what I thought was the flu, I spent 14 days in cardiac ICU. With no risk factors and no family history, I was suddenly diagnosed with end-stage heart failure from an unknown cause. My enlarged heart was functioning at just 6 percent. The most optimistic doctors gave me a five-year life expectancy.

I was flown to Cleveland Clinic and became my doctor’s most critical patient for 16 months. During that time, I wore an external defibrillator and titrated potent medications to maximum dosages. I was eventually implanted with a special pacemaker/internal defibrillator. Then we waited…to see if I would hit transplant status as experts expected.

My life was suddenly ripped into two parts: pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis. Pre-diagnosis I was healthy, I talked to God, and He seemed to guide me. Post-diagnosis, none of that happened, at least not at first.

In this unlimited-talk-and-text world, the lack of communication felt like abandonment. God seemed unresponsive and remote, and I often gave Him the silent treatment right back. The two-way quiet threatened to dampen my faith. Even when I couldn’t, thousands of people prayed around the clock despite a grim prognosis and sympathetic tears from every doctor we encountered. Still, this God I thought I knew remained distant and cold. I started to blame myself for His quietness. I was actually embarrassed that so many fervent prayers of others on my behalf seemed unanswered. Was it me? Was my shaky faith the problem?