Srila Prabhupada once wrote that the following Srimad Bhagavatam verse should be the guide of all devotees: ‘In the Tenth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, Verse 8, it is said, “My dear Lord, any person who is constantly awaiting Your causeless mercy to be bestowed upon him, and who goes on suffering the resultant actions of his past misdeeds, offering You respectful obeisances from the core of his heart, is surely eligible to become liberated, for it has become his rightful claim.” This statement of Srimad Bhagavatam should be the guide of all devotees. A devotee should not expect immediate relief from the reactions of his past misdeeds. No conditioned soul is free from such reactionary experiences, because material existence means continued suffering or enjoying of past activities. If one has finished his material activities then there is no more birth. This is possible only when one begins Krsna conscious activities, because such activities do not produce reaction.’ (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 10, Techniques of Hearing and Remembering, Expecting the Lord’s Mercy)