Letter 837: Prayer is not the manipulation of God but the alignment of our will with his.

To Peter. On the saying, "Who is the faithful and wise servant?" [Matthew 24:45] That the man who throws away the right occasion for action fails in his hunt for what is good, is plain. And that all things are good in their own season, Ecclesiastes taught us [Ecclesiastes 3:1-8]. If, then, these things are so, why are you surprised that the Savior said of the wise and faithful steward that he will give the food in due season? For what is ill-timed is everywhere painful, and a good deed that has no share in the right moment loses even its name. For example, the very same bread is sweet and welcome to a man who is hungry, but to one who has had his fill not so much; and the same cup is most agreeable to one who is thirsty, but most disagreeable to one who is drunk. What, then, is the cause that makes the same things not have the same effect upon the same people? Plainly the right timing, which also makes the thing given greater and more desirable. One must therefore not only give (for that is perhaps a small thing), but also give at the right moment. For this, even if what is given be small, will make it greater; and if it be great, will render it greatest. For this reason the Psalmist too [literally "the Melodist," i.e. David], proclaiming the divine acts of kindness, added this also: "All things wait upon you, to give them their food in due season" [Psalm 104:27]. For he does not merely feed, but feeds at the right time. For this above all is what nourishes all things: that it be given at the right moment. And if you wish to see this happening also among the fruits that the earth brings forth, observe that grain, and wine, and oil, and the kinds of tree-fruits, and the varieties of flowers, do not come at one and the same season; but the meadows come first, the cornfields follow, the vine succeeds, and the cluster of grapes passes the earth on to the olive: as though the seasons were dancing some most excellent dance, and by the length of time giving the farmer rest. For if everything came at once to its prime [...], the farmer's craft would be hard pressed by the shortness of time, and everything would have been lost and left untilled and ungathered.

Εἰς τὸ εἰρημένον, «Τίς ἐστιν ὁ πιστὸς δοῦλος καὶ φρόνιμος;» Ὅτι μὲν ὁ τὴν εὐκαιρίαν τῶν πραγμάτων προδιδούς, τῆς τῶν καλῶν διαμάρτοι θήρας, δῆλον. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ πάντα καλὰ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτῶν, ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἐδίδαξεν. Εἰ τοίνυν ταῦθ’ οὕτως ἔχει, τί ξενίζῃ, εἰ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἔφη περὶ τοῦ φρονίμου καὶ πιστοῦ οἰκονόμου, ὅτι δώσει τὴν τροφὴν ἐν καιρῷ; Τὸ γὰρ ἄκαιρον πανταχοῦ λυπηρόν, καὶ ἡ εὐεργεσία καιροῦ ἀμοιρήσασα, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα ἀπόλλυσιν (9). Οἷον, ὁ αὐτὸς ἄρτος πεινῶντι μὲν ἡδὺς καὶ ἐράσμιος, χορεσθέντι δὲ οὐ πάνυ· καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ποτήριον, δίψωντι μὲν προσηνέστατον, μεθύοντι δὲ ἀηδέστατον. Τίς οὖν ἡ αἰτία, ἢ τὰ αὐτὰ μὴ τῶν αὐτῶν τυγχάνειν παρασκευάζουσα; Ἡ εὐκαιρία δηλονότι, ἢ καὶ τὸ διδόμενον μεῖζον καὶ ἐρασμιώτερον δημιουργοῦσα. Χρὴ οὖν μὴ μόνον διδόναι (μικρὸν γὰρ ἴσως τοῦτο), ἀλλὰ καὶ καιρίως. Τοῦτο γάρ, κἂν μικρὸν ᾖ τὸ δοθέν, μεῖζον ποιήσει· κἂν μέγα, μέγιστον παρασκευάσει. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Μελῳδὸς τὰς θείας εὐεργεσίας ἀνακηρύττων, καὶ τοῦτο προσέθηκε, «Πάντα πρὸς σὲ προσδοκῶσι δοῦναι τὴν τροφὴν αὐτοῖς εἰς εὔκαιρον». Οὐ γὰρ τρέφει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐκαίρως. Τοῦτο γὰρ μάλιστά ἐστι τὸ πάντα τρέφον, τὸ καιρίως δίδοσθαι. Καὶ εἰ βούλει γε καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν καρπῶν, τὴν ἀπὸ γῆς τικτομένην, τοῦτο γινόμενον ἰδεῖν· θέα ὅτι οὐκ ἐν ἐῇ καιρῷ σῖτος, καὶ οἶνος, καὶ ἔλαιον, καὶ ἀκροδρύων γένη, καὶ ἀνθῶν ποικιλίαι· ἀλλὰ προηγοῦνται μὲν οἱ λειμῶνες, ἕπεται δὲ τὰ λήϊα, διαδέχεται δὲ ἄμπελος, παραπέμπει δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐλαίαν τὴν γῆνὸν ὁ βότρυς· ὥσπερ χορείαν τινὰ ἀρίστην τῶν ὡρῶν χορευουσῶν, καὶ τῷ μήκει τοῦ χρόνου τὸν γεωργὸν ἀναπαυουσῶν. Εἰ γὰρ πάνθ’ ὁμοῦ εἰς τὴν εἰσείαν ἤρχετο ἀκμήν, ἐστενοχωρήθη ἂν ἢ τοῦ γεωργοῦ τέχνη· ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ χρόνου βραχύτητος, καὶ πάντα ἂν ἀπώλωλε καὶ. ἀγεωργήτους καὶ ἀσυγκομίστους.