If God seems slow in responding, it is because He is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for His greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
If, sometimes, He does not grant all you desire, it will be to give you something that is better for you; this is how the heavenly Physician treats the sick who go to Him wishing to be cured, rather than to taste pleasant medicines. Do not withdraw yourself from His hands, however painful His remedies may be.
–Saint John of Avila (1500 – 1569)
Accordingly, whether we have our requests granted or not, let us persist in asking and render thanks not only when we gain what we ask but also when we fail to. Failure to gain, you see, when that is what God wants, is not worse than succeeding; we do not know what is to our advantage in this regard in the way he does understand. The result is, then, that succeeding or failing we ought to give thanks. Why are you surprised that we don’t know what is to our advantage? … So we ought to yield to the Creator of our nature, and with joy and great relish accept those things that he has decided on and have an eye not to the appearance of events but to the decisions of the Lord. After all, he who knows better than we what is for our benefit also knows what steps must be taken for our salvation.
–Saint John Chrysostom (347-407)
I sought to hear the voice of God And climbed the topmost steeple, But God declared: “Go down again – I dwell among the people.”
–Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
If we go on crying out and do not receive any answer, this is for our advantage: instead of losing heart and growing weary, we should go on brazenly asking God, for it is certain that “at an acceptable time” and at the appropriate hour he will answer us and deliver us.
–Sahdona (b. 600-649)
We must understand then, that even though God doesn’t always give us what we want, He always gives us what we need for our salvation.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
