A Prayer for When You Don’t Feel God’s Love - Your Nightly Prayer

Your Nightly Prayer

A Prayer for When You Don’t Feel God’s Love
Your Nightly Prayer for Feb. 12, 2025
by Rev. Kyle Norman

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“Whoever lives in love, lives in God and God in them. In this way, love is made complete in us.” – 1John 4:16-17

SOMETHING TO PONDER

“Do you feel God’s love?” In this question, there are a thousand others. “Do I feel God’s love all the time?” “Is it wrong to not feel God’s love?”; “If I don’t feel God’s love, does this mean I have no faith?” These questions go to the deepest part of how we interact with our faith and our Lord.

I would like to say yes to these questions. I would like to testify that I possess a constant feeling of divine delight washing over me every moment of my life. Life would be easier if this was the case. Discouragement, frustration, and longing all would disappear. I would live in unrestricted bliss, drinking in the free blessings of eternity. Sadly, this is not the case. I must confess that this is not how my life of faith is lived.

The answer to the questions above is a resounding “No.”

No, I don’t always feel God’s love.

No, this isn’t wrong.

No, you have not abandoned faith.

This is the answer because the love of God cannot be defined as an emotion. Frankly, if we speak about God’s love as if it is a blissful feeling of which we are in constant awareness, we set ourselves up for failure. It is as if we assume that we will always live amid tangible expressions of positive emotion. Love becomes equated with the feeling of butterflies in the stomach or a twitterpation of our hearts.

This simply is not always the case. While we affirm the constant reality of God’s love, there are times when this “feeling” is absent in our lives. To assume that God will make us feel perpetually warm and fuzzy is to assume that the absence of those feelings testifies to the absence of God. The lack of feeling denies the emotion. This will undoubtedly create a deep sense of discouragement in our faith. Either we assume that a deeper experience of Christ’s love is beyond our own ability, or we will assume that Christ has removed his love from our lives. Either way, we will be left feeling unwanted or unloved.

God’s love doesn’t work like that. It is not an emotion that colors our life with rainbows and roses. The love of God doesn’t produce the spiritual equivalent of a school-yard crush. God’s love is deeper than that, more expansive, and more transformative.

John writes, “Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. In this way, love is made complete among us” (1 John 4:16). The love of God is not a feeling felt for our personal enjoyment; it is the very presence of God. This means that the love of God is the atmosphere in which we live. Like fish swimming in the ocean, the love of God surrounds us. We can no more find ourselves outside the love of God than we can find ourselves outside the presence of God.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Gracious and Loving God,
As I end today, filled with a myriad of emotions, I thank you that you are with me at all times and in all places. I thank you that your love for me is not dependant on my own recognition of it. In your goodness and grace, you extend love over me lavishly, robustly, and freely.

Lord, you know all that I face. You know the struggles and stresses of my life, the things that can so easily crowd out your presence from my mind. Instead of turning to you, I focus on other things. Help me, I pray; to recognise you’re the truth that governs my life, that I am a beloved child of God. Give me the boldness to stand firm in your love and to daringly accept it when I don’t feel in.

And in those times where I am tempted to deny your love for me, please give me a vision of the cross – which is the eternal testimony of the assurance of your love.

Lord Jesus Christ, as I retire this night, I rest in the assurance of your love. May I rise tomorrow in the assurance and acceptance of the love that sustains me? This I pray in Jesus Christ, my Lord,
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. What does this mean? It means we can choose, as much as possible, to recognize the reality of God’s love for us. It means that we can dare to believe that we are loved, even when we don’t feel it.

2. The fact that I don’t always feel God’s love is ultimately a good thing. It forces me to recognize that God’s love isn’t based on my emotions. God’s love is an undeniable fact. Accepting God’s love in my life is an act of faith.

3 . Will you make a bold and daring decision to believe that God loves you for no other reason than God chooses to?

The Reverend Dr. Kyle Norman is the Rector of St. Paul’s Cathedral, located in Kamloops BC, Canada. He holds a doctorate in Spiritual formation and is a sought-after writer, speaker, and retreat leader. His writing can be found at Christianity.com, crosswalk.com, ibelieve.com, Renovare Canada, and many others. He also maintains his own blog revkylenorman.ca. He has 20 years of pastoral experience, and his ministry focuses on helping people overcome times of spiritual discouragement.