Romans 8:18

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

This is not the worst thing to ever happen! Cancer is so limited. it cannot cripple love, shatter hope, corrode faith, eat away peace, destroy confidence, kill friendship, shut out memories, silence courage, quench the Spirit or lessen the power of Jesus.

Pete Grieg, God On Mute, quoting a lady named Margaret

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. (NRSV)

When we pin our hopes on the fulfillment of our desires, we fall into the trap of wishful waiting... We can't know if our desires will be fulfilled or not.

Even if we could, we set ourselves up for disappointment when our focus is on the prize instead of on God....

When our hope is in God alone, He becomes our prize.

Jennifer Rothschild, Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

The book of Job is therefore both the most frustrating and enlightening treatment of unanswered prayer in the Bible, because God's solution to so much misery is merely and ultimately to reveal His greatness.
Pete Grieg, God On Mute

"Surprisingly, the Bible reveals that Jesus--even Jesus--suffered the silence of unanswered prayer."
Pete Grieg, God On Mute

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/september/19.86.html

These Inward Trials

I asked the Lord that I might grow,
In faith and love and every grace,
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

It was He who taught me thus to pray,
And He I trust has answered prayer.
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He'd answer my request.
And by His love's constraining power,
Subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel,
The hidden evils of my heart.
And let the angry powers of hell,
Assault my soul in every part.

Yes, more with His own hand, He seemed,
Intent to aggravate my woe.
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

"Lord, why is this?" I trembling cried.
Will You pursue Your worm to death?"
"This is the way" the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and strength."

"These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set you free;
And break your schemes of earthly joy,
That you may find thy all in Me."
--John Newton

"Blessed are the Poor in Spirit"

by Thomas Watson

"He that is poor in spirit is lowly in heart. Rich men are commonly proud and scornful, but the poor are submissive. The poor in spirit roll themselves in the dust in the sense of their unworthiness. 'I abhor myself in dust' (Job 42:6). He that is poor in spirit looks at another's excellencies and his own infirmities. He denies not only his sins but his duties.

The more grace he has, the more humble he is, because he now sees himself a greater debtor to God. If he can do any duty, he acknowledges it is Christ's strength more than his own. As the ship gets to the haven more by the benefit of the wind than the sail, so when a Christian makes swift progress, it is more by wind of God's Spirit than the sail of his own endeavour. The poor in spirit, when he acts most like a saint, confesses himself to be 'the chief of sinners'. He blushes more at the defect of his graces than others do at the excess of their sins. He dares not say he has prayed or wept. He lives, yet not he, but Christ lives in him. He labours, yet not he, but the grace of God."

A Prayer for the Heart

Give us, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; give us an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give us an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord, our God, understanding to know You, diligence to seek You, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace You; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
--Thomas Aquinas

"Take, Lord" Prayer by Ignatius of Loyola

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my intellect, and all my will--all that I have and possess. You gave them to me: to You, Lord, I return them. All is Yours, dispose of all according to Your will. Give me only Your love and grace, for these are enough for me.
--Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

'...faith is not merely an attitude—it is also the response to God's specific promises. In Abraham's case, his faith answers the divine word, "So shall your offspring be. " Faith is not content-less humility that places our hope in a higher power. No, in faith we answer the divine word and its specific verbal content. God speaks, and we believe in him in response to his word.'
--Simon Gathercole