The slow-fade pattern: "God stopped listening"

• Does the phrase "it's not a religion, it's a relationship" create unbiblical expectations of how God interacts with us?
• What should you say to someone who tells you "I'm talking to God and I'm not hearing anything back"?

A host describes a recurring pattern he sees: motivated believers hit a negative event, feel God has stopped answering, and slowly drift away — not by renouncing faith but by a vague, smoky fade where disciplines and community fall off. The segment ends with the framing question: someone says "I'm talking to God and I'm not hearing anything back" — how do you respond?