Ever notice how silence feels weird? Like, really weird? The second things get too quiet, we instinctively fill the void—scrolling through TikTok, queuing up a podcast, turning on Netflix for “background noise” (which, let’s be honest, turns into four episodes). We say we want to hear from God, but most of us can’t even sit through a red light without checking our phones.
And maybe that’s the problem.
Scripture makes it clear that God isn’t competing for our attention. When Elijah was desperate for a word from God in 1 Kings 19, he didn’t find Him in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. He heard Him in a whisper. But a whisper requires stillness, and stillness is the one thing we’ve trained ourselves to avoid.
We have become a generation that fears silence, drowning in distractions so thoroughly that even the idea of sitting quietly feels unnatural. The second there’s a quiet moment, we instinctively reach for something—our phones, a playlist, a headline, literally anything to keep our brains occupied. Maybe we don’t really want to hear from God. Maybe we just want the comfort of knowing He’s there without the risk of actually sitting with what He might say.
It’s not that He isn’t speaking. It’s that we’ve conditioned ourselves not to hear.
Dr. Gloria Mark, a researcher at UC Irvine and author of Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity, explains that modern technology has rewired our brains for distraction.
“The average person switches screens every 47 seconds,” she writes. “When we try to focus, we often end up in a state of continuous partial attention, which keeps us from engaging deeply with anything—including prayer.”
A 2021 study in Nature Communications found that constant digital input is shortening our attention spans and making deep thinking harder. Another study from UC Irvine found that minor interruptions—like checking a text—can derail focus for up to 23 minutes. We like to think we’re good at multitasking, but the truth is we’re just training ourselves to be more distracted. And if that’s happening in everyday life, it’s definitely happening in our spiritual lives too.
Jesus, who was arguably busier than all of us combined, made a habit of getting away from the noise. Luke 5:16 says He “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
He didn’t just do it when He had free time—He created the space. Mark 1:35 tells us that “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.”
If the Son of God needed silence to connect with the Father, why do we think we can hear Him through a never-ending stream of notifications?
The Fear of Silence
Beyond our devices, there’s another reason we avoid stillness: it forces us to confront our thoughts.
A study from the University of Virginia found that many people would rather endure a mild electric shock than sit alone in silence for 15 minutes. That’s how uncomfortable we’ve become with being alone with our own minds. And yet, silence is where deep transformation happens. Psalm 46:10 tells us to “be still and know that I am God.” But if stillness never happens, neither does that deeper knowing.
Christian author and pastor John Mark Comer, in his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, warns that chronic busyness and digital overload aren’t just harming our focus but our spiritual health. “Hurry is incompatible with love,” he writes. “You can’t hear God when you’re constantly rushing from one thing to the next.”
Maybe that’s why Jesus so often withdrew. He wasn’t just modeling self-care. He was showing us that stillness is a prerequisite for intimacy with God.
Creating Space for God
So what do we do about it?
It doesn’t mean quitting your job and moving to the desert to live in a hut (though, honestly, the thought of a Wi-Fi-free life is tempting some days). But it does mean making intentional choices to quiet the noise.
Maybe that means reclaiming the first moments of your morning—resisting the urge to grab your phone before your brain even wakes up. Maybe it’s turning off the music and letting your drive to work be an actual time of reflection. Maybe it’s deleting a few apps that exist purely to keep your brain on a dopamine loop. Maybe it’s choosing to sit in silence—even when it feels uncomfortable—and letting your thoughts settle long enough to listen.
One practical step is practicing silence and solitude, something deeply rooted in Christian tradition. Start small. Set a timer for five minutes and simply sit in God’s presence. No agenda, no distractions, just listening. As that becomes easier, increase the time.
Another way to train your brain for deeper connection is through meditation on Scripture. Joshua 1:8 says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night.” Reading a Bible verse isn’t the same as deeply reflecting on it. But slowing down, repeating it and praying through it can help quiet the mental noise and create space for God’s voice.
God is still speaking. He’s never stopped. But hearing a whisper in the middle of a hurricane isn’t easy. If we want to hear from Him, we have to be willing to step outside the storm.
