Some seasons feel like your phone is on silent while waiting for an important call. You pray, pay attention, do the next right thing, and God still feels quiet.
If that is you, you're not broken or behind. You might just be standing in the middle of a sacred quiet that many faithful followers have known.
Silence from God can feel like a verdict. But it can also be a classroom.
History gives us perspective. During long stretches of quiet, leaders often discovered that God was shaping their attention, not punishing their questions. The quiet season was training their ears and teaching them to notice subtle invitations and to test impressions with Scripture and community, all while moving forward in small, faithful steps.
Below are three things you can do when waiting for God's call feels like a long silence. Think of them as one path with three steps: listen, discern, and walk.
1) Listen with a gentle daily rhythm
God's voice does not compete with constant noise. You do not need a quiet retreat to start listening. You only need a small daily rhythm that's easy to maintain. Keep it consistent and honest.
Begin with stillness. Sit for five minutes. Breathe slowly. Pray, "Speak, Lord, I am listening." No performance, no pressure. Keeping an open mind and heart is the goal.
Read Scripture slowly. Choose a short passage, then ask two questions. What stands out and why might this matter today? Write two lines in a notebook. One of gratitude. One as a request for guidance.
Examine what you heard. In ten minutes, review your day with God. Notice moments of consolation, where peace and courage rose. Notice moments of desolation, where anxiety and smallness grew. Ask, What are you drawing me toward? And, what are you inviting me to release? Choose one actionable step for tomorrow.
If you miss a day, begin again the next day. This process is about steady progress. Over time, this rhythm reduces unnecessary noise and heightens your sensitivity to quiet invitations from God.
2) Discern and seek wise counsel
Wise direction grows when impressions are tested. Invite a small and trusted circle to help you interpret what you find.
Alignment. Test what you are discerning against Scripture, your awareness, and your desires. Awareness asks what you now notice that you didn't previously, and why now. Desire asks whether you genuinely want this, and whether it aligns with how God is calling and shaping you — your gifts, temperament, and story.
Fruit. Take small steps and watch for signals like peace, provisions, perseverance, and people helped. Peace that lingers, even when you feel stretched. Provisions such as an open door, a needed resource, or a mentor who shows up. Perseverance of your spirit that remains even after hard days. People helped in visible ways.
You do not need all four of these signals at full strength or all at once. You are looking for a meaningful lean toward yes.
Counsel. Share how you're feeling with three voices who know God and know you. A pastor or spiritual mentor, a peer who tells the truth, or a practitioner already pursuing the ministry work that interests you.
Offer a one-page summary with three headings:
What I sense.
What I know for sure.
What I do not know yet.
And ask them three questions in advance:
What do you see God already doing in me?
Where do you see fruit when I serve or lead?
If you were in my place, what experiment would you try next?
Capture their feedback in writing and look for themes. When alignment, fruit, and counsel point in the same direction, you have enough light to take action.
This step protects you from two common traps. Acting on every hunch you feel is a sign from God, or waiting for flawless certainty. Discernment sits between those extremes. It is your faithful attention plus tested movement that will bring clarity for how to hear God's calling for your life.
3) Walk the walk with an experiment. Repeat if necessary.
Most clarity arrives while walking, not waiting for a perfect plan. Design a single experiment that serves real people and teaches you quickly. Keep it simple but specific.
Name one outcome. Examples include: Lead a four-week mentoring circle about spiritual leadership for Gen Z and evaluate engagement. Shadow a chaplain for two mornings and record what felt natural. Pilot a weekly reading group at the community center and gather five honest reviews.
Choose two repeatable actions each week. The actions should be evident on your calendar. One session to prepare. One session to serve. Protect these appointments as you would any other meeting.
Use a simple scorecard. At the end of the week, answer four questions on one page. Did I experience peace? Did provision appear? Did perseverance grow? Were people helped in specific ways? Add one sentence on what you learned about your experiment.
Set a decision date. Invite your three counselors to meet with you. Share what you saw in prayer and Scripture, your scorecard notes, and any visible fruit. From there, decide to deepen the commitment, pivot to an adjacent path, or pause with gratitude. If none of the signs are present after your experiment, note that the calling may be true, but the timing may not be right. Take some time to pray, discuss, and discern what other experiences, relationships, or knowledge you might need to take this exploration forward in the future.
Each step forward is faithful if it is honest.
What silence can teach you?
Silence is not always absence; sometimes it is training. It teaches you to rely on practices that keep your heart open, to test impressions with Scripture and community, and to act in ways that bless real people. It shifts your focus from hunting for a perfect signal to building a life that can hear small ones. Silence replaces anxious guessing with evidence, humility, and companionship.
Common questions that may come up as you practice
What if urgency shouts at me? God's invitations carry weight, but they rarely bully. If pressure screams, take pause. Return to stillness. Seek trusted counsel for guidance.
What if I keep comparing my path to others? Someone else's chapter ten is not your chapter one. Bless their story. Walk in yours.
What if nothing happens? Keep the rhythm small and steady. Do another experiment. Review the scorecard with a mentor. Sometimes the first experiment reveals what to release, which frees you to say yes to what fits better.
A simple prayer for the season of silence
"God, I want to hear you in the middle of my ordinary day. Quiet the noise that does not belong. Give me wisdom to see, courage to act, and peace to wait. Lead me to the next most faithful step, and keep my heart soft to your voice. Amen."
Your next three actions
To answer the question, "How do I know God is calling me?" You do not need the whole map. You need to practice listening and choose one practical next step.
If you feel a call to ministry and want community for your discernment, reach out to the Forum for Theological Exploration. We offer courses and events designed to give discerning young adults opportunities to discover vocational possibilities, explore discernment practices, and reflect on their own sense of calling.
FTE exists to Inspire Leaders to Shape the Future. We would be honored to walk with you as you take the next faithful step toward discerning a spiritual calling. Visit fteleaders.org to explore resources of faith and purpose for Gen Z.