The book of Proverbs tells us, Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. But for many being able to trust in the Lord is not an easy step.
There are many things that can keep us from putting our trust in God, but as Monsignor Don Sawyer recently discussed on The Inner Life®, there is one key step that many people forget, and it keeps them from being able to trust in the Lord.
“I’m a #1 worrier myself,” Msgr. Sawyer admitted. “I worry about this and I worry about that. But I keep trying to remind myself of what St. Paul says to turn everything over to prayer. We don’t pray enough. That’s the bottom line of it all. None of us do. And when we start worrying we are just trying to figure out the problem and solve it instead of turning it over to God. We don’t have to control. Control is really the opposite of trust.”
And while the solution of ‘pray more’ may seem like a glib response, Msgr. Sawyer pointed out that most people – even churchgoing Catholics – don’t pray us much as they should. He told The Inner Life host Chuck Neff, “We put emphasis on church attendance. And the first step is that prayer experience and that relationship with Christ. That has to be first. I’ve seen people say, ‘My son, or my daughter doesn’t go to church,’ or ‘They went to a Catholic school but now [they don’t go to Mass’.] But did they ever experience Christ? They may have attended Mass, but it’s like they were plugged in but the machine wasn’t on.”
And so, when it comes to the issue of trusting in God, our personal prayer experience and relationship with God has to be the first step. Just as you wouldn’t trust your deepest worries with a mere acquaintance, you won’t be able to turn your worries over to the Lord until you have a deep, loving relationship.
“Each of us have to do that, our own personal walk with God,” Msgr. Sawyer said. “We presume that they went to church, but it has to be a personal experience. And that’s what the Lord is inviting us all to walk with Him. Like Adam and Eve walked in the beginning with Him. There has to be this fellowship.”
“We go to church, and it may look like we’re religious. But do we really know the Lord?” he challenged listeners. “I even ask clergymen, bishops, priests. Do you really know God? Do you really love Him? And that’s the first duty, I think, of any of the clergy. You have to know God. How can you serve someone you don’t know?”
Listen to the full conversation with Msgr. Don Sawyer below:
The Inner Life airs weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Central on Relevant Radio® and the Relevant Radio App.
