When God Breaks the Silence: What to Do When Prayers Go Unanswered

The Story of Zechariah and Elizabeth

Have you ever prayed for something for so long that you stopped believing it would happen?

I'm not talking about a casual request or a passing wish. I'm talking about those deep, desperate prayers that you've whispered in the dark a thousand times. Those prayers that have become part of your daily rhythm, like breathing. So constant that you barely notice them anymore until you realize they've gone unanswered for years.

Maybe it's a prayer for healing that hasn't come. Maybe it's a prayer for a relationship to be restored that remains broken. Maybe it's a prayer for a financial breakthrough that seems further away than ever. Maybe it's a prayer for a prodigal child to come home who's still wandering.

Eventually, something shifts inside you. You stop asking. The silence is too painful. The disappointment is too heavy. It's easier to stop hoping than to keep being disappointed.

What do you do when God has been silent for so long you've stopped listening?

Today, I want to introduce you to a couple who knew that silence intimately. Their names were Zechariah and Elizabeth, and their story is where the Christmas narrative actually begins. Not with Mary, not with shepherds, not with wise men, but with an old priest who had given up hope and an angel who showed up when he least expected it.

This is a story about waiting, about silence, about prayers that seem to go unanswered, and about a God who is working even when we can't see it. A God who is preparing His greatest surprises in the midst of our deepest disappointments.

Righteous but Childless

Luke 1:5-7 introduces us to this couple:

"In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old."

Luke gives us their credentials first. Zechariah was a priest from the division of Abijah. Elizabeth descended from Aaron, meaning she came from priestly lineage as well. This was as good as it gets in Jewish society. They had the right pedigree, the right family background, the right religious standing.

But then Luke tells us something even more important: they were both righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. This doesn't mean they were perfect. No one is. But Luke is telling us they were godly people who genuinely loved God and tried to honor Him in every area of their lives.

They did everything right. They followed all the rules. They kept all the commandments. They were model believers.

And then comes verse 7, and that single word "but" changes everything: "But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old."

In one sentence, Luke captures decades of disappointment, years of whispered prayers, countless tears shed in the darkness.

The Pain of Unanswered Prayer

In their culture, childlessness wasn't just a personal disappointment. It was seen as a sign of God's disfavor. It carried social stigma. It raised questions about their righteousness. People would have whispered about them, wondered what secret sin they were hiding, questioned why God was withholding His blessing. And for a priest and his wife, people who were supposed to represent God's favor, this was especially painful.

They had prayed, probably for decades. In their younger years, they prayed with expectation. As they got older, they prayed with desperation. And eventually, as age made childbearing impossible, they probably stopped expecting an answer.

The silence had become their normal. Hope had faded into acceptance. The dream had died.

This is where many of us live, isn't it? 

We've prayed. We've believed. We've hoped. But the years have passed, circumstances have changed, and what we asked for now seems impossible. So we've made peace with the silence. We've learned to live with the disappointment. We've stopped listening for an answer we don't believe will come.

The Once-in-a-Lifetime Moment

Luke 1:8-10 tells us about a significant moment:

"Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside."

Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple. This was literally a once-in-a-lifetime honor. There were thousands of priests in Israel, divided into 24 divisions. Each division served twice a year for one week at a time. During that week, lots were cast to determine which priest would burn incense in the Holy Place. Because there were so many priests, most would never get this opportunity.

So here's Zechariah, probably in his sixties or seventies, finally getting his turn. The most significant moment of his career. The pinnacle of his priestly service.

But I wonder if the honor felt hollow. He had a career. He had respect. He had religious accomplishments. But he didn't have the one thing he'd prayed for all his life. He was experiencing professional success while carrying personal disappointment.

Haven't many of us been there? Everything looks good on the outside, but inside, there's a prayer God hasn't answered, a dream that's died, a silence that's become deafening.

Heaven Breaks Into the Routine

And then the angel speaks. Luke 1:13:

"But the angel said to him: 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.'"

"Do not be afraid." The first words from heaven after years of silence.

And then the angel says something stunning: "Your prayer has been heard."

Which prayer? The one he'd prayed for decades. The one he'd probably stopped praying years ago. The one he'd given up on. The one that seemed impossible now that they were both old.

God had heard him all along. Every whispered prayer. Every desperate plea. Every tear shed. Every hope deferred. God heard it all. The silence wasn't God's absence. It was God's preparation.

The angel continues in Luke 1:14-17:

"He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Notice what's happening here. This wasn't just about answering a personal prayer. This wasn't just about giving an old couple the child they'd always wanted. This child (John) would be great in the sight of the Lord. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. He would turn many in Israel back to God. He would prepare a people for the Lord.

Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for a son. God was going to give them the forerunner of the Messiah. They prayed for personal blessing. God was going to use their son to bless the entire world. Their private pain was going to become public blessing.

God's silence wasn't denial. It was preparation. He wasn't ignoring their prayer; He was waiting for the perfect moment in history. John couldn't be born whenever Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted him. He had to be born at exactly the right time (six months before Jesus) so he could prepare the way for the Messiah.

The Response: Doubt in the Face of Promise

Now watch Zechariah's response. Luke 1:18:

"Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.'"

After all these years of praying, he doesn't believe it. He's standing face to face with an angel (a messenger from God's throne room) and he asks for proof. "How can I be sure?"

The years of silence have conditioned him to doubt. He's forgotten that God can do the impossible. He's so used to the answer being "no" that he can't accept "yes."

The angel responds in Luke 1:19-20:

"The angel said to him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.'"

Gabriel. One of God's chief messengers. "I stand in the presence of God," he says. You're questioning a message delivered directly from God's throne room.

Zechariah asked for proof, and he got it, but not in the way he expected. The priest who couldn't believe would lose his voice. The man who doubted God's word would be unable to speak.

But I also think God was being merciful. Zechariah needed nine months of silence to process what God was doing. He needed time to think, to remember God's faithfulness, to prepare his heart for what was coming. Sometimes God silences us not to punish us, but to prepare us.

The Promise Fulfilled

Jump ahead to Luke 1:57-64:

"When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, 'No! He is to be called John.' They said to her, 'There is no one among your relatives who has that name.' Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, 'His name is John.' Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God."

Just as the angel said. Just at the appointed time. God's silence was broken with a baby's cry.

On the eighth day, everyone wanted to name him Zechariah, as was the custom. But Elizabeth said, "No! He is to be called John." When they asked Zechariah, he wrote: "His name is John."

And immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak.

Notice what his first words were after nine months of silence. Not complaint. Not "finally!" Not "I told you so." But praise. He began to speak, praising God.

Nine months of silence. Nine months to think about God's faithfulness. Nine months to remember God's promises. Nine months to realize that God's timing is perfect even when it feels late, that God's promises are certain even when they seem impossible, that God's plans are bigger than our personal desires.

What This Means for Your Life

God's Silence Doesn't Mean God's Absence

Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for decades with no answer. But God was working the whole time. He was waiting for the right moment in salvation history. Their son had to be born at the exact right time to prepare the way for Jesus.

What you think is God ignoring you might actually be God preparing you.

When you don't hear from God, it doesn't mean He's not listening. It doesn't mean He doesn't care. It doesn't mean your prayer doesn't matter. Sometimes the silence is because God is orchestrating something bigger than you can see.

Our Timing Is Not God's Timing

Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted a child in their youth. God gave them a child in their old age. Why? Because the world needed John when Jesus came, not when Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted him. God's timeline was tied to something bigger than their personal desires. It was tied to the salvation of the world.

Are you willing to trust God's timeline over your own?

 Are you willing to believe that His delays are not denials, but part of a bigger plan? Can you wait for His appointed time, even when it doesn't make sense to you?

Doubt Doesn't Disqualify Us

Zechariah doubted, even with an angel standing in front of him. And God still fulfilled the promise. The doubt didn't cancel the blessing. But the doubt did silence him for a season.

When we doubt, we lose our ability to speak God's truth effectively. We lose our voice of witness. We lose our testimony.

Faith isn't the absence of doubt. It's trust despite the doubt. It's choosing to believe God's word even when circumstances contradict it. Bring your doubts to God honestly. He can handle your questions. But be willing to be taught, even if it means being silenced for a season.

God's Answers Are Often Bigger Than Our Prayers

They prayed for a son. God gave them the forerunner of the Messiah. They prayed for personal blessing. God used their son to bless the entire world.

What if your unanswered prayer is because God has something bigger in mind? 

What if He's not saying no, but "I have something better planned"?

Maybe you're praying for a specific outcome, and God wants to give you something greater. Maybe you're asking for comfort, and God wants to give you character. Maybe you're asking for provision, and God wants to teach you dependence.

When the Silence Breaks

What if your season of silence is about to end? What if God is about to break through? What if the prayer you stopped praying is about to be answered? What if God's timing is finally here?

Will you respond like Zechariah after his silence, with praise?

 Or will you waste the moment complaining about how long you had to wait?

The test of our faith isn't just how we wait in the silence. It's what we do when God finally answers.

Small Group QUestions

ICE BREAKER QUESTIONS

1. What's the longest you've ever had to wait for something you really wanted? How did that waiting period affect you?

2. If you could receive an answer to any prayer by the end of this year, what would it be? 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Zechariah and Elizabeth were described as "righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly" (Luke 1:6), yet they remained childless for decades. How do you reconcile being faithful to God while experiencing unanswered prayers? What wrong conclusions might we draw when godly people face disappointment?

2. The sermon's main point is: "Sometimes God's silence prepares us for His greatest surprises." Can you think of a time in your life (or in Scripture) when a delay or period of waiting actually positioned someone for something better? How does this perspective change the way you view your current waiting seasons?

3. Zechariah was at the pinnacle of his career, finally chosen to burn incense in the temple, yet he was still carrying the weight of personal disappointment. Have you ever experienced outward success while dealing with private pain? How do you balance gratitude for what God has given with grief over what He hasn't?

4. When Gabriel told Zechariah "your prayer has been heard" (Luke 1:13), it was a prayer Zechariah had probably stopped praying. What does it mean that God remembers our prayers even after we've given up on them? Should this change how we pray about long-term requests?

5. The angel revealed that John would be "great in the sight of the Lord" and would prepare the way for the Messiah (Luke 1:15-17). Zechariah prayed for a son; God gave him the forerunner of Jesus. How have you seen God answer prayers in ways that were bigger or different than what you originally asked for?

6. Zechariah asked for proof, "How can I be sure of this?" (Luke 1:18) and was struck silent for nine months. Why do you think God responded this way? What's the difference between honest questions and doubt that disqualifies our voice?

7. The sermon stated: "God's timing had to align with His salvation plan, not with Zechariah's personal timeline." How do we hold onto hope when God's timing doesn't make sense to us? What biblical truths help you trust God's timing over your own?

8. After nine months of silence, Zechariah's first words were praise (Luke 1:64). What do you think changed in Zechariah during those nine months? How might enforced silence or waiting periods actually prepare us for God's answers?

9. The sermon offered four applications: (1) God's silence doesn't mean absence, (2) Our timing is not God's timing, (3) Doubt doesn't disqualify us, and (4) God's answers are often bigger than our prayers. Which of these speaks most directly to your current life situation? Why?

10. When God has answered prayers in your life, how have you responded? How can we cultivate hearts that respond with praise rather than complaint about how long we had to wait?