It's not that God is far away from us; rather, it's that we have chosen a path that has severely distanced us from Him. God is always close to us and has never been far from us, but we have strayed too far from Him in terms of our thoughts, behaviours, attitudes, personalities, likes, and inklings in life. "Even from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them," states Malachi 3:7.
The Lord of hosts said, "Return to me, and I will return to you." But you asked, "Wherein shall we return?"
As you proceed along the road, you will come across signs advising you to veer off the path that the Lord has planned. How do we go back to the Lord? Returning to God means returning to the ways of God, returning to the reproofs of God, and returning to the ordinances where we have drifted so far from God.
Therefore, why does He appear to be so far from our pleas, prayers, and likes? We are so distant from Him because we have strayed and taken a diversion, but He is not far from us because we have gone so far without Him. We have taken a lot of detours in our lives, but if we follow the path that God has planned for us, I think we won't have any regrets.
Let us return to His ordinances in order to be close to Him and discover Him in our everyday lives. We shall discover an ever-loving and caring God who is always willing to hear our requests.