Day 349: Temptation, Trust, and Prayer

The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith. It expresses itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual preferences. When we begin to pray, a thousand labors or cares thought to be urgent vie for priority; once again, it is the moment of truth for the heart: what is its real love? Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a last resort, but do we really believe he is? Sometimes we enlist the Lord as an ally, but our hearts remain presumptuous. In each case, our lack of faith reveals that we do not yet share in the disposition of a humble heart: "Apart from me, you can do nothing." CCC 2732

Today's reading from the Catechism is short, a few paragraphs on temptations we face and matters of trust in prayer. For the first, temptations can include a lack of faith in our preferences more than anything else. The cares of the world may intrude upon our prayer life, obscuring what the purpose of prayer really is. We can look at God as an ally, or someone to turn to as a last resort, but this can be presumptuous and reveals the lack of humility and true love in our hearts. Acedia, or sloth, can also set in if we are not vigilant, bringing a laxity in our spiritual life. Filial trust is tested during tribulation, with some failing by stopping prayer because they wrongly believe that they are not being heard (CCC 2734).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes how we can strengthen our filial trust in prayer:

Filial trust is tested when we think we are not heard. We must therefore ask ourselves if we think God is truly a Father whose will we seek to fulfill, or simply a means to obtain what we want. If our prayer is united to that of Jesus, we know that he gives us much more than this or that gift. We receive the Holy Spirit, who transforms our hearts. (#575)

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

A failure to believe God can be seen in our choices even if we do not deny the Faith in words. Many of us may be "practical atheists," professing the Faith but not living accordingly. Practical atheists do not live as if God exists and is Lord. Our lack of faith can be revealed by our real loves when other things compete for our attention during prayer. Sometimes we want God's help, but on our terms. Actually. we need the Lord for everything. Humility is the first quality we need in prayer... The second quality necessary in prayer is trusting God. This means that we know God allows us to experience difficulties not in order to have us fail but in order to refine us. (p. 214)