Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers

unanswered_prayer

4 Entries

All who ask and do not obtain their requests from God, are denied for one of the following reasons; because they ask at the wrong time, or because they ask unworthily and vaingloriously, or because if they received they would become conceited, or finally because they would become negligent after obtaining their request. St. John Climacus, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent," (Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1978), Step26: On Discernment of Thoughts, Passions and Virtue

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Do not grieve if you do not at once receive from God that which you ask. He wishes to benefit you still more by making you persist longer in your patient prayer before Him. For what can be higher than to address one’s converse to God and be in communion with Him? "153 Texts on Prayer", St Nilus of Mt Sinai, "Early Fathers From the Philokalia," translated from the Russian text, "Dobrotolubiye," by E. Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer, eighth edition, (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1981), pp. 127 - 135.

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God does not disregard the prayers of the faithful. Yet He sometimes does not fulfill their desires, only in order to better arrange everything according to His Divine purpose. Advice from the Holy Elder St. Leo (Nagolkin) of Optina

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We should not be distressed if, in asking the Lord for something, we remain for a time unheard. It would have pleased the Lord if all men in a single moment had become dispassionate; however, His foreknowledge told Him that this would not be for their good. St. John Climacus, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent," (Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1978), Step26: On Discernment of Thoughts, Passions and Virtue

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