Cell phone coverage in rural areas can be quite sketchy. We generally know those places where making a call is going to be more than just a challenge: it is an impossibility.

I try to avoid making calls while driving through a dead zone. One of the most frustrating experiences of our modern lives is to be using a device that is supposed to provide instant connectivity and communication, only to have it go silent when we’re in the middle of an important call.

The areas most notorious for poor cell reception also have some of the most dangerous roads: hairpin curves, deep ravines, heavy underbrush, and worn highways. If you slide off the road in some of our hollers, it would take the dogs to find you. If by some chance you happen to crawl out and make it back to the road, you wouldn’t be able to call for help anyway.

There are also times we feel like we’re passing through dead zones spiritually. Maybe you’ve neglected your Bible reading and prayer time, or maybe you’ve continued it faithfully but feel like your prayers aren’t making it through.

One thing’s for sure: you’re not hearing from God. For whatever reason, you feel like the call has been disconnected, leaving you feeling abandoned, alone, and forgotten.

David felt the same way and expressed his anguish through verse:

O God, of my praise, Do not be silent!

Psalm 109:1

To You, O LORD, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if you are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit.

Psalm 28:1

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

Psalm 22:1-2

If you keep reading those Psalms, however, you will find that they change in tone quickly. The pleas turn to praise, the sorrow to shouts of joy. God’s silence does not mean that He is not with us, nor does it mean that we should not keep working, praising, praying, and rejoicing in His promises.

With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.

Psalm 109:31

Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 28:6-8

Beautiful Psalm 22, full of Messianic prophecy, begins with the verses stated earlier, and the first line is more familiar to us because it was spoken by Jesus as he died on the cross. Jesus, who surely felt rejected by God after he had taken upon the sin of all mankind, understands our desperation to be connected to our Lord.

But Psalm 22 ends with a hopeful promise that is fulfilled in us today:

Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it! (30-31).

You may feel like you keep asking God, “Hello? Can you hear me now?” but don’t let go of persistent prayer. Don’t stop praising God. Just remember, God’s purpose is not to grant our every wish. He is not some genie in a lamp. Neither do we work for Him just to get more for ourselves.

We work regardless of what He does for us in return.

We pray without ceasing.

We hold to faith, even if He is silent, because no one could ever love us like He does.

Don’t avoid making calls to God when you’re passing through spiritual dead zones. On the contrary, call out more often. Enduring times of what feels like God’s silence will grow your faith, resulting in a stronger relationship with Him.

It’s a little bit like increasing your bandwidth, and when the connection is restored, you will say, without a doubt:

He has done it!