Many of us cradle Catholics eventually outgrow our cradles and realize our trust in God has remained pint-sized.

Trust in God is hard enough and yet the world makes it nearly impossible. We have insurance for our homes, cars, pets, travel plans, and nearly everything else. There are vaccines for diseases we’ve never even heard of. There are stringent rules for how babies should be put in car seats and put to bed. And yet, even after we’ve insured everything and covered all our bases, there is no safety and there is no peace.

In his book Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits, Dan Burke writes about the importance of constant scriptural input to combat the steady flow of fear and doubt to which we are subjected in our daily life.

In the same way that taking one vitamin won’t ever fix the problem, maintaining an attitude of trust requires daily vigilance and commitment.

Burke writes that spiritual warfare is primarily a battle waged within the mind. To “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:3-5), we need first to reject lies. That is, as St. James advises, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Then we must proclaim truth; “draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (Jas 4:7-8).

Drawing near to God means learning about the promises in Scripture as a defence and retort to negative thought patterns and cycles of anxiety and discouragement.

Drawing near to God will necessarily mean turning away from compulsive habits. Many of us do not know how to initiate prayer or how to slow down our minds because we are addicted to constant input for comfort in the attempt to soothe ourselves.

Often, before Jesus would heal someone in the Gospels, he would ask them, “Do you want to be made well?” If we are to grow in faith and trust, we have to demonstrate that desire by putting forth an honest and rigorous effort.

It can be small and gentle at first, for example, a single prayer read every day at the same time followed by five minutes of quiet prayer.

Sister Faustina Maria Pia of the Sisters of Life has composed a powerful prayer called the “Litany of Trust.” Since its composition, the prayer has gone viral in Catholic circles.

The prayer begins:

From the belief that I have to earn Your love … Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear that I am unlovable … Deliver me, Jesus.

From the false security that I have what it takes … Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear that trusting You will leave me more destitute … Deliver me, Jesus.

From all suspicion of Your words and promises … Deliver me, Jesus.

From the rebellion against childlike dependency on You … Deliver me, Jesus.

The prayer came in a season where the sister felt like she needed clear answers to some probing questions. One day in her cell, she felt Jesus tell her, “I don’t want you to give your consent to a bunch of circumstances, I want you to give your yes to me!” She immediately said yes to letting go of her need for human security, and in that moment the words of the prayer “streamed from [her] heart,” and the Litany of Trust was born.

Trust is something that we can’t do on our own and that is why it can evade us for so long. The level of trust depends on the trustworthiness of the other person. Given that there are not many trustworthy people around, many of us don’t have the required muscles for trust. But, if we truly want to be made well, the Good Shepherd will prove that he can be trusted, and he will indeed lead us beside still waters and restore our souls.