I always love to begin a journey on Sundays, because I shall have the prayers of the church to preserve all that travel by land, or by water.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
To the man who himself strives earnestly, God also lends a helping hand.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Poet
Cold prayers shall never have any warm answers.
—Thomas Brooks (1608–80) English Puritan Preacher, Author
Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Prayer is and remains always a native and deepest impulse of the soul of man.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Mind how you pray. Make real business of it. Let it never be a dead formality…plead the promise in a truthful, business-like way…Ask for what you want, because the Lord has promised it. Believe that you have the blessing, and go forth to your work in full assurance of it. Go from your knees singing, because the promise is fulfilled: thus will your prayer be answered…the strength not length of your prayer…wins…God; and the strength of prayer lies in your faith in the promise which you pleaded before the Lord.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
To pray loudly is not a necessity of devotion ; when we pray we must direct our hearts towards heaven.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Listen, my friend! Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness.
—Ole Hallesby (1879–1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian
Teach me, O God, not to torture myself, not to make a martyr out of myself through stifling reflection, but rather teach me to breathe deeply in faith.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
O Lord, help me not to despise or oppose what I do not understand.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Political leader, Philosopher
Pray to God but continue to row to the shore.
—Russian Proverb
Help yourself, and Heaven will help you.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
Keep us, Lord, so awake in the duties of our calling that we may sleep in thy peace and wake in thy glory.
—John Donne (1572–1631) English Poet, Cleric
God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
In Gethsemane the holiest of all petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. It did not. After that the idea that prayer is recommended to us as a sort of infallible gimmick may be dismissed.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Tomorrow I plan to work, work, from early until late. In fact I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.
—Martin Luther (1483–1546) German Protestant Theologian
Common people do not pray, my lord: they only beg
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Bow, stubborn knees!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The shower of answers to your prayers will continue to your dying hour. Nor will it cease then. When you pass out from beneath the shower, your dear ones will step into it. Every prayer and every sigh which you have uttered for them and their future welfare will, in God’s time, descend upon them as a gentle rain of answers to prayer.
—Ole Hallesby (1879–1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian
When we in prayer seek only the glorification of the name of God, then we are in complete harmony with the spirit of prayer. Then our hearts are at rest both while we pray and after we have prayed. Then we can wait for the Lord.
—Ole Hallesby (1879–1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian
All the troubles of life come upon us because we refuse to sit quietly for awhile each day in our rooms.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
Father in Heaven! When the thought of thee wakes in our hearts let it not awaken like a frightened bird that flies about in dismay, but like a child waking from its sleep with a heavenly smile.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
Prayer, in its simplest definition, is merely a wish turned God-ward.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
O, do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks! Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
Helplessness is unquestionably the first and the surest indication of a praying heart. .. Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is helpless can truly pray.
—Ole Hallesby (1879–1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian
More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of. What are men better than sheep or goats, that nourish a blind life within the brain, if, knowing God, they lift no hands of prayer both for themselves and those who call them friends!
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Prayer at its best is the expression of the total life, for all things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives.
—A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) American Christian Pastor, Preacher, Author, Editor
There is neither encouragement nor room in Bible religion for feeble desires, listless efforts, lazy attitudes; all must be strenuous, urgent, ardent. Flamed desires, impassioned, unwearied insistence delight heaven. God would have His children incorrigibly in earnest and persistently bold in their efforts. Heaven is too busy to listen to half-hearted prayers or to respond to pop-calls. Our whole being must be in our praying.
—Edward McKendree Bounds (1835–1913) American Methodist Clergyman, Author, Lawyer
My prayer to God is a very short one: “O Lord, make my enemies look ridiculous!” God has granted it.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Pray to God, at the beginning of all thy works, that so thou mayest bring them all to a good ending.
—Xenophon (c.430–c.354 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
The prayers of a lover are more imperious than the menaces of the whole world
—George Sand (1804–76) French Novelist, Dramatist
We ought not to tolerate for a minute the ghastly and grievous thought that God will not answer prayer.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray. The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–45) German Lutheran Pastor, Theologian
Let our prayers, like the ancient sacrifices, ascend morning and evening. Let our days begin and end with God.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
When my children do wrong, I ache to hear their stumbling requests for forgiveness. I’m sure our heavenly Father aches even more deeply to hear from us.
—Unknown
It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
It is only when we pray for something according to the will of God that we have the promise of being heard and answered.
—Ole Hallesby (1879–1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian
If we do not love one another, we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer.
—Dwight L. Moody (1837–99) Christian Religious Leader, Publisher
To pray as God would have us, with all the heart and strength and reason and will, and to believe that God will listen to our voice through Christ, and verily do the thing he pleaseth thereon, this is the last, the greatest achievement of the Christian’s warfare on earth.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Prayer is Israel’s only weapon, a weapon inherited from its fathers, a weapon tried in a thousand battles.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
The greatest prayer is patience.
—Buddhist Teaching
What I dislike least in my former self are the moments of prayer.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
The first purpose of prayer is to know God.
—Charles L. Allen (1913–2005) American Methodist Minister
If a pig could pray, it would pray for swill. What do you pray for?
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Whatsoever we beg of God, let us also work for it.
—Jeremy Taylor
So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Grant us grace, Almighty Father, so to pray as to deserve to be heard.
—Jane Austen (1775–1817) English Novelist
The wise man in the storm prays God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
We ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity, speaking to Him frankly and plainly, and imploring His assistance in our affairs.
—Brother Lawrence (1614–91) French Carmelite Monk, Writer