There is a kind of trust that is easy when prayer is quickly answered. Then there is the trust that must survive the passing of time.

As the risk of being seen as a motivational writer, which I am not, I wish to write about trust and hope once again this week. Maybe, just maybe, my own personal experiences in the last couple of weeks are shaping my thoughts and ideas on this page. Days become months. Months become years. The prayer remains the same, but life continues moving. At first, we pray with confidence. Later, we pray with questions. Eventually, we may find ourselves wondering whether God has heard us at all.

The Bible does not hide this experience.

Abraham was seventy-five when God promised him a son. Yet Isaac was not born until Abraham was one hundred. Between the promise and its fulfilment were approximately twenty-five years of waiting. Abraham grew older. Sarah passed the natural years of childbearing. Time did not merely pass; with every passing year, the promise seemed to become less possible. And Abraham did not wait perfectly. He questioned. He tried to help God fulfil the promise through Hagar. Yet, through all the complexity of those years, he kept returning to God. This is important. Continuous trust also involves becoming tired, confused or afraid, but more importantly, it means continually returning to the One whom you have chosen to trust.

Such trust can be practised rather than merely felt. Bring the same unanswered prayer to the Eucharist and consciously place it on the altar. Pray the Rosary slowly, allowing Mary’s fiat, “Let it be done to me according to your word,” to become your own. Spend time in Eucharistic Adoration without demanding explanations. Pray, “Jesus, I trust in You,” especially when you do not feel trusting. Receive the Sacraments faithfully. Keep a record of past moments of grace, so that present silence does not erase the memory of God’s faithfulness.

And perhaps pray this daily:

I surrender my desire for so, so and so to you, take care of it, Lord. 

I surrender the time, the manner and the outcome to You. Keep me close to You while I wait. If the answer is delayed, let my trust outlive the delay. If Your answer is different from mine, do not let disappointment separate me from You. 

The passing of time does not prove the absence of God. Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is to keep showing up, prayer after prayer, Mass after Mass, day after day, saying: “I am still here, Lord. And even now, I trust You.”

I hope you are as encouraged as I am… Shalom!