Unforgiveness, Hearing God, and the Myth of Instant Conference Deliverance (Part 3)

A common teaching in some churches is that if you are unable to hear God clearly, it must be because of unforgiveness in your heart. While unforgiveness can affect us spiritually and emotionally, the truth is that it is not always the reason someone feels they cannot hear God.

Sometimes you may not hear God simply because of the season you are in.

There are seasons of stillness, and stillness often means silence. During these seasons, answers may not be ready to be revealed yet. That silence does not mean you did something evil. It does not mean you are bitter. It does not mean God has abandoned you.

Sometimes it simply means the timing is not yet.

It is also important to understand that God does not stop speaking to someone just because they are struggling with emotions like bitterness. There were moments in my own life when I was bitter toward someone who hurt me. Yet God did not punish me with silence. Instead, He gave me dreams and spoke to me about the restoration of that relationship. Ironically, hearing from Him actually helped ease my bitterness.

That alone shows that God’s communication with us is not as mechanical as some teachings make it seem.

Another idea often promoted at church conferences is that deliverance and freedom must happen immediately—right there in the service, during the altar call, or after hours of prayer. But that is not always how healing works.

Sometimes deliverance is connected to seasons.

God may allow certain seasons in our lives—even difficult ones—because those seasons teach us things such as patience, love, endurance, and forgiveness. The breakthrough often comes when that season has completed its purpose.

In my own experience after being raped, my healing did not come during a conference or a dramatic public moment. My struggle lasted through a season of deep pain. Then in the summer of 2025, God spoke to me through a dream and told me that my days of suffering were over.

And that word proved to be true.

My freedom did not come at a conference.
It came when my season ended.

Sometimes God moves suddenly.
Other times He moves through seasons.

Both are still God.