God withholds an answer to our prayers not only when they are unworthy but when he finds in us such greatness, such depth—depth and power of faith—that he can rely upon us to remain faithful even in the face of his silence. I remember a young woman with an incurable disease and after years of the awareness of God’s presence, she suddenly sensed God’s absence—some sort of real absence—and she wrote to me saying, “Pray to God, please, that I should never yield to the temptation of building up an illusion of his presence, rather than accept his absence.” Her faith was great. She was able to stand this temptation and God gave her this experience of his silent absence.

Remember these examples, think them over because one day you will surely have to face the same situation. I cannot give you any exercise, but I only want you to remember that we should always keep our faith intact, both in the love of God and in our honest, truthful faith, and when this temptation comes upon us, let us say this prayer, which is made of two sentences pronounced by Jesus Christ himself: “Into Thy hands I commend my spirit. Thy will, not mine, be done.”

—Anthony Bloom, Living Prayer

Perhaps the greatest demonstration of faith is perseverance in prayer when God seems conspicuously absent or when he does not answer our prayers as we hope or desire. Here Bloom reminds us that this is an indication that we are maturing in our faith. To continue to pray in the face of God’s silence is surely faith put into action.