There are times when faith feels dry. Prayers seem to go unanswered, and God feels far away. The Bible often calls such times a “wilderness” – and says that it is precisely there that new things grow. Here you will find 20 Bible verses for times of drought.
When God Seems Far Away
Honest Words from the Wilderness.
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As the deer pants for fresh water, so my soul, God, pants for you. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come to see God’s face?
Psalm 42:2-3Love for God
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God, you are my God; early in the morning I call to you. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:2DesireLove for God
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My God, I call to you by day, but you do not answer; at night I keep silent also.
Psalm 22:3
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LORD, how long will you hide your face from me? How long will you conceal yourself from me?
Psalm 13:2Answered PrayerPsalms
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LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 10:1
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I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
Psalm 143:6
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Truly, you are a hidden God, you God of Israel, the Savior.
Isaiah 45:15
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But I go straight ahead, and he is not there; I turn back, and I do not feel him; he is on my left, and I do not see him; he hides himself on my right, and I do not see him.
Job 23:8-9
God in the Wilderness
God meets people precisely in times of wilderness.
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For behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth, and you shall know it, that I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
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But the wilderness and the desert shall be glad, and the dry land shall be joyful and blossom as the lilies.
Isaiah 35:1
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But I will open rivers on the heights, and fountains in the midst of the fields; I will turn the wilderness into pools of water, and the dry land into springs.
Isaiah 41:18
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And the LORD will lead you always and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
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Therefore behold, I will allure them, and I will lead them into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly with them.
Hosea 2:16
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And remember all the way by which the LORD, your God, has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he humbled you and tested you, that it might be known what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:2
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Your clothes were not worn out on you, and your feet did not swell these forty years.
Deuteronomy 8:4Clothing
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And after the earthquake came a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice.
1 Kings 19:12
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But on the last day of the feast, which was the most glorious, Jesus came forth, cried, and said: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, out of his side shall flow rivers of living water.
John 7:37-38Water
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And he said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give freely to the thirsty from the fountain of living water.
Revelation 21:6Water
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And they who go through the valley of weeping shall make it a fountain; and they shall be adorned with much rejoicing.
Psalm 84:7
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But they who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31ExhaustionPatience
Bible texts: Luther Bible 1912 (public domain), carefully adapted to modern spelling.
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Times of Wilderness in the Bible
Many of the great stories in the Bible lead through the wilderness: Israel wanders for forty years, Elijah flees into it, John the Baptist preaches there, Jesus is tempted there. The wilderness is a place of lack – but also of encounter. God says of Israel: “I will allure them, and I will lead them into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly with them” (Hosea 2:16). Times of drought are therefore not necessarily a sign that God is gone. Sometimes they are the place where he speaks more quietly, but more closely – as with Elijah in the “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).
What Helps in Times of Drought
The Psalms show: You can tell God that you miss him. “As the deer pants for fresh water, so my soul, God, pants for you” (Psalm 42:2). Small habits that do not depend on feelings are also helpful – a psalm in the evening, a church service, a conversation with someone who has experienced something similar. And remembrance: In Deuteronomy 8:4, it says that Israel’s clothes did not wear out in the wilderness. God provides, even when it does not feel that way. You can find more verses on Bible verses for doubt, Bible verses about patience, and Bible verses about water.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a spiritual drought?
A time when faith feels dry and God feels far away. The Bible often describes such phases with the image of the wilderness (Psalm 63:2; Psalm 42:2-3).
Which Bible verse helps in times of wilderness?
Isaiah 43:19 (“I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert”), Psalm 42:2-3, and Isaiah 58:11 are particularly comforting.
