“I feel so overwhelmed right now,” unloaded a friend over the phone, in between bursts of tears. “My son’s health situation isn’t improving, while we’ve just about exhausted our treatment options. Meanwhile, my father-in-law’s health continues to deteriorate, and he’s needing us more and more for day-to-day care. On top of that, we just found out that my husband’s company is downsizing, so he could soon be out of work. I want to believe that God will perform some miracles for us, but it’s just so hard.”

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve probably all faced difficult situations in the past when we felt similarly. Or, perhaps right now we’re confronted with a pressing concern like a serious health diagnosis, marital problems, chronic loneliness or financial burdens. Maybe we’re frustrated because we’re relocating and can’t find a buyer for our house, have a difficult boss who is making us miserable, or we’re unemployed and can’t find work. We may be praying fervently and persistently about the situation, but still have received no answers. It might seem like God has “forgotten” us, or that we can’t count on Him to intervene in our lives in the ways that we’ve been hoping.

Yet Scripture makes it clear that God wants us to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith involves trusting in God’s character and promises, as outlined in the Bible. Trusting God means having the confidence that God can and will do what He says He’ll do, that He truly wants and knows what’s best for us, and that He will take care of us.

Now trusting God may be easy to do when life is going smoothly—we’re in optimal health, our jobs are secure, our finances are good, etc. It’s when we’re in the midst of sore trials that trusting God can be more challenging. In big part, that’s because as human beings, we’re mostly caught up in the here-and-now. We don’t know what God’s specific intentions are for us, or exactly how He may plan to intervene in our lives. We just know we’re really hurting or suffering, we might not see a resolution to our current hardships, and we don’t understand why events have unfolded the way they have.

Not only that, we’re living in a world where the temptation to doubt God is constant. Intellectuals and media figures scoff at the idea of believing in God. This mindset can influence us if we’re not careful. Our lifestyles can also be a factor. Many people live crazy busy lives where they do not make time for God, and in turn, He is not as “real” to them as He should be.

Moreover, there is a demonic realm—Satan and his demons—that wants to destroy humanity (1 Peter 5:8). These evil spirits are quite adept at planting seeds of doubt in our minds—for instance, that what the Bible says cannot be taken at face value, that God may or may not watch over us, that our afflictions are insurmountable, etc.

But as hard as it can be to trust God, we can and must strive to build and deepen our trust in Him. Otherwise we won’t be able to face adversity with hope, courage and confidence, and we will not be pleasing God. However, we’re not going to have this trust just by wishful thinking. There are definite measures we need to be taking. What follows are six tried-and-true strategies to boost your faith, no matter what type of trial you may be facing: 

1. Study God’s Word

One of the best ways to build your confidence in God is to study His Word. You might meditate on Bible passages that remind you of God’s trustworthiness. The book of Psalms is a good place to start, as so many of them address the importance of trusting God, or describe when God delivered King David (and others) from troubles.

Another study is to focus on God’s many promises in Scripture—pledges we can count on when facing uncertainties and difficulties. God assures us He will provide our needs (Philippians 4:19), not fail or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Psalm 37:28; John 14:18), never leave us (Hebrews 13:5), heal us (James 5:14-16), deliver us from our troubles (Psalm 34:17), and provide us what we need to endure trials (1 Corinthians 10:13). By clinging to these promises, we can be at peace, no longer controlled by our doubts and fears.

I personally have found it helpful to meditate verses on God’s steadfast and righteous character. The Bible reveals that God is loving (1 John 4:16, Romans 5:8, Lamentations 3:22, Zephaniah 3:17), faithful (Deuteronomy 7:9), merciful (Psalm 103:8), and good (Psalm 145:9). Studying these aspects of God’s character can give us confidence that He wants what’s best for us, strengthening our trust in Him.

2. Earnestly seek God through prayer

While God is always faithful, He wants you to seek His guidance and intervention through prayer. Philippians 4:6-7 says to, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Cry out to God about your troubles and concerns. Talk about your circumstances. Ask God to help you address them—to give you the wisdom and strength to face and endure your trial, to be with you through it all, and ultimately, to deliver you from it. Also, pray that God will ward off demonic attacks (e.g., planting fears and doubt in your mind).

Prayer is an important way we show God that we want a connection with Him, and that we want His involvement in our lives. James 4:8 encourages us, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” Psalm 55:17 assures us that when we reach out to God through prayer, He will hear us. Prayer helps us get closer to God and makes Him “more real” to us, which strengthens our trust in Him.

3. Ask God to increase your faith

You may be well aware of God’s truths. But it can be hard to fully believe them when life takes unexpected turns, or when from a purely human perspective, no good outcome is possible. If so, it’s okay to tell God you’re scared. Confess that you want to trust Him, but you’re struggling to do so. Ask Him to help you believe his promises. God wants to help you trust him more fully, and help you build your faith.

A classic Bible passage in this regard is Mark 9:17-24, which tells of a man who brought his son (who was possessed by a demon) to Jesus for healing. Jesus told the man, “If you can believe, all things are possible to to him who believes” (v. 23). Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (v. 24). The man knew his faith was far from perfect. He didn’t think he had enough. So He asked for more faith (enough for his son to be healed), and his request was granted.

The apostles, too, after they witnessed Christ’s miracles, asked him to increase their faith (Luke 17:5), They knew they needed more faith to face the challenges in their daily lives. We shouldn’t be shy about doing the same thing. One of the primary ways to build our faith is to ask God to provide us with an added measure of it.

4. Remember that God’s timing and solutions often differ from ours

Probably most of us can recall times in our lives when God did not grant us exactly what we’d prayed for, perhaps intervening in a way we’d never anticipated, when things definitely worked out for the best. Or, there may have been situations when God did give us what we asked for, but not until after a long time period had passed. In hindsight, we can look back on these situations and see how God was definitely taking care of us all along—even when we were suffering.

But when we’re in the midst of affliction, and from a human perspective, the possibility of a positive outcome seems unlikely, it can be hard to hold onto the truth that God still has our best interests. Our trust in Him can start to erode.

That’s when we need to make a conscientious effort to make sure that doesn’t happen. Start by reminding yourself that God knows is best for you, even if it isn’t what you think is best. One of the most appropriate verses to reflect on in this regard is Isaiah 55:8-9, which states: “'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.'” God’s ways are far superior to ours.

Remember, too, that just because God may not seem to be with you right now, doesn’t mean He isn’t. Just because He hasn’t already delivered you from your ordeal, doesn’t mean He won’t in the near future. We need to remind ourselves that God is focused on preparing us for eternity, and He knows all the details that have to be worked out, whereas we don’t. We might not be able to grasp why enduring a particular trial is preparing us for God’s Kingdom, when it is. Keeping this in forefront of our minds can help maintain our trust in God—even when things look dismal on our end.

5. Recall past difficult situations when God brought you through them

As was just noted, we should remind ourselves of times in the past that God has answered our prayers, or taken care of us even when we didn’t anticipate praying about potential problem scenarios. It follows that if God answered your prayers in the past, He can and will do it again. Filling your mind with examples of God’s previous miraculous interventions can strengthen your faith and build your confidence in Him.

Some people keep a journal to serve as a record of God’s blessings and answered prayers. Every time God obviously intervenes in their lives, they write down the details in their journal and date it. This serves as a body of written evidence—something to look back on and review—for in the future when they find themselves facing hardship. Having specific “proof” written down on paper (or in a file on the computer) ensures that they won’t have to rely on memory to be able to recall these instances.

6. Seek out the testimonies of others

Encouragement can also come by hearing how others have experienced God’s hand in their lives. It might not be something we naturally talk about in our day-to-day conversations. But if you ask others—particularly those you attend church with or know they believe in God—many will have experiences to share about times they trusted in God and the positive results. That can serve to deepen your own trust in God.

There have been times when I felt burdened about a difficulty I was facing and during church fellowship time, I asked others there if they’d be willing to share examples of when their prayers were answered or God intervened in miraculous ways in their lives. Whenever I’ve done this, there have been those who were willing to open up about their experiences. Hearing their accounts always made me feel strengthened, serving as evidence for me that God can be trusted and DOES take care of us. It’s exactly what we need to hear when our trust in God is waning.

Closing thoughts

Trusting God is important, not only because it helps us cope with adversity, but also because learning to trust Him is an important part of our training for eternity. God will not have anyone in His Kingdom who does not fully rely on Him.

That is the perspective, my friend, quoted in the first paragraph, chose to adopt. “What’s really helped me is remembering that God isn’t just concerned about our present situation, but also about getting us ready for His Kingdom,” she said. “Thankfully, He’s patient with us when our faith is weak. But we can’t stay in that state. We can’t allow our doubts to control us.”

Whether times are good or bad, we should always strive to put our trust in God—not in our wealth, power, intellect, abilities—or in other people or the institutions of our modern society. Only God is trustworthy. Nothing else we might put our trust in is going to help us fight our “Goliaths.” And we won’t be preparing for eternity if we aren’t learning to totally rely on God.