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Prayer Quotes and Quotations
 There are few men who dare to publish to the world the prayers they make to Almighty God.  To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love All pray in their distress. God be kind to all good Samaritans and also bad ones. For such is the kingdom of heaven. It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk. Pray, v: to ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. 'Mr. President, I am praying for you. 'Which way, Senator?' We offer up prayers to God only because we have made Him after our own image. We treat Him like a Pasha, or a Sultan, who is capable of being exasperated and appeased. - Voltaire The fewer the words, the better the prayer. In prayer we call ourselves 'worms of the dust', but it is only on a sort of tacit understanding that the remark shall not be taken at par. Give us grace and strength to preserve. Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends and soften to us our enemies. Give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death, loyal and loving to one another. I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered. God punishes us mildly by ignoring our prayers and severely by answering them. Only man, among living things, says prayers. Or needs to. What men usually ask of God when they pray is that two and two not make four. In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer. I pray on the principle that wine knocks the cork out of a bottle. There is an inward fermentation, and there must be a vent. They who have steeped their soul in prayer can every anguish calmly bear. Unless I had the spirit of prayer, I could do nothing. Prayer is an end to isolation. It is living our daily life with someone; with him who alone can deliver us from solitude. Prayer moves the hand that moves the world. Prayer changes things. Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. There is no hope but in prayer. We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer. It surmounts or removes all obstacles, overcomes every resisting force and gains its ends in the face of invincible hindrances. By prayer we couple the powers of heaven to our helplessness, the powers which can capture strongholds and make the impossible possible. Faith, and hope, and patience and all the strong, beautiful, vital forces of piety are withered and dead in a prayerless life. The life of the individual believer, his personal salvation, and personal Christian graces have their being, bloom, and fruitage in prayer. Every chain that spirits wear crumbles in the breadth of prayer. Though we cannot by our prayers give God any information, yet we must by our prayers give him honor. In the war upon the powers of darkness, prayer is the primary and mightiest weapon, both in aggressive war upon them and their works; in the deliverance of men from their power; and against them as a hierarchy of powers opposed to Christ and His Church. God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who uttered them. Men of God are always men of prayer. Religion is no more possible without prayer than poetry without language or music without atmosphere. All who have walked with God have viewed prayer as the main business of their lives. To have a curable illness and to leave it untreated except for prayer is like sticking your hand in a fire and asking God to remove the flame. Oh, what a cause of thankfulness it is that we have a gracious God to go to on all occasions! Use and enjoy this privilege and you can never be miserable. Oh, what an unspeakable privilege is prayer! What is the life of a Christian but a life of prayer! Even if no command to pray had existed, our very weakness would have suggested it. He who ceases to pray ceases to prosper. By prayer, the ability is secured to feel the law of love, to speak according to the law of love, and to do everything in harmony with the law of love. Time spent on the knees in prayer will do more to remedy heart strain and nerve worry than anything else. The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayer-less religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. No heart thrives without much secret converse with God and nothing will make amends for the want of it. No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it. A man's state before God may always be measured by his prayers. Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble. Prayer covers the whole of man's life. There is no thought, feeling, yearning, or desire, however low, trifling, or vulgar we may deem it, which, if it affects our real interest or happiness, we may not lay before God and be sure of sympathy. His nature is such that our often coming does not tire him. The whole burden of the whole life of every man may be rolled on to God and not weary him, though it has wearied the man. The first purpose of prayer is to know God. We, one and all of us, have an instinct to pray; and this fact constitutes an invitation from God to pray. Teach us to pray that we may cause The enemy to flee, That we his evil power may bind, His prisoners to free. No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you; Lean, weary one, upon His breast, God will take care of you. He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and a happy life. Non-praying is lawlessness, discord, anarchy. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; The Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. Prayer is the great engine to overthrow and rout my spiritual enemies, the great means to procure the graces of which I stand in hourly need. Pray, always pray; when sickness wastes thy frame, Prayer brings the healing power of Jesus' name. Prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God's work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God's work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails. The goal of prayer is the ear of God, a goal that can only be reached by patient and continued and continuous waiting upon Him, pouring out our heart to Him and permitting Him to speak to us. Only by so doing can we expect to know Him, and as we come to know Him better we shall spend more time in His presence and find that presence a constant and ever-increasing delight. Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid. The whole meaning of prayer is that we may know God. Prayer crowns God with the honor and glory due to His name, and God crowns prayer with assurance and comfort. The most praying souls are the most assured souls. The purpose of prayer is to reveal the presence of God equally present, all the time, in every condition. The value of consistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will hear Him. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body ... can be measured in terms of increased physical buoyancy, greater intellectual vigor, moral stamina, and a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human 1 relationships. Prayer is the force as real as terrestrial gravity. As a physician, I have seen men, after all other therapy had failed, lifted out of disease and melancholy by the serene effort of prayer. Only in prayer do we achieve that complete and harmonious assembly of body, mind and spirit which gives the frail human reed its unshakable strength. Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. Today any successful and competent businessman will employ the latest and best-tested methods in production, distribution, and administration, and many are discovering that one of the greatest of all efficiency methods is prayer power. To have a curable illness and to leave it untreated except for prayer is like sticking your hand in a fire and asking God to remove the flame. One night alone in prayer might make us new men, changed from poverty of soul to spiritual wealth, from trembling to triumphing. Every time we pray our horizon is altered, our attitude to things is altered, not sometimes but every time, and the amazing thing is that we don't pray more. It is not so true that "prayer changes things" as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man's disposition. Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things. The main lesson about prayer is just this: Do it! Do it! Do it! You want to be taught to pray? My answer is: pray. Praying is learned by praying. The only way to pray is to pray, and the way to pray well is to pray much. The less I pray, the harder it gets; the more I pray, the better it goes. Prayer is a trade to be learned. We must be apprentices and serve our time at it. Painstaking care, much thought, practice and labour are required to be a skillful tradesman in praying. Practice in this, as well as in all other trades, makes perfect. If we are willing to spend hours on end to learn to play the piano, operate a computer, or fly an airplane, it is sheer nonsense for us to imagine that we can learn the high art of getting guidance through communion with the Lord without being willing to set aside time for it. The great thing in prayer is to feel that we are putting our supplications into the bosom of omnipotent love. All the prayers in the Scripture you will find to be reasoning with God, not a multitude of words heaped together. Scream at God if that's the only thing that will get results. You need not cry very loud; he is nearer to us than we think. Rejoice always, pray constantly, and in all circumstances give thanks. God tells us to burden him with whatever burdens us. Do I want to pray or only to think about my human problems? Do I want to pray or simply kneel there contemplating my sorrow? Do I want to direct my prayer toward God or let it direct itself towards me? O thou, by whom we come to God, The Life, the Truth, the Way, The path of prayer Thyself hast trod- Lord teach us how to pray. Dealing in generalities is the death of prayer. Don't try to reach God with your understanding; that is impossible. Reach him in love; that is possible. The right way to pray, then, is any way that allows us to communicate with God. Grant us grace, Almighty Father, so to pray as to deserve to be heard. He prayeth well, who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - Bible He that will learn to pray, let him to sea. Incense is prayer That drives no bargain. Child, learn from incense How best to pray. When we go to our meeting with God, we should go like a patient to his doctor, first to be thoroughly examined and afterwards to be treated for our ailment. Then something will happen when you pray. Natural ability and educational advantages do not figure as factors in this matter of prayer; but a capacity for faith, the power of a thorough consecration, the ability of self-littleness, an absolute losing of one's self in God's glory and an ever present and insatiable yearning and seeking after all the fullness of God. We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. If our petitions are in accordance with His will, and if we seek His glory in the asking, the answers will come in ways that will astonish us and fill our hearts with songs of thanksgiving. Pray if thou canst with hope, but ever pray, though hope be weak or sick with long delay; pray in the darkness if there be no light; and if for any wish thou dare not pray, then pray to God to cast that wish away. Prayer can assume very different forms, from quiet, blessed contemplation of God, in which eye meets eye in restful meditation, to deep sighs or sudden exclamations of wonder, joy, gratitude or adoration. To pray is nothing more involved than to open the door, giving Jesus access to our needs and permitting Him to exercise His own power in dealing with them. He prays best who does not know that he is praying. When you cannot pray as you would, pray as you can. If you can't pray as you want to, pray as you can. God knows what you mean. Pray till you pray. A day without prayer is a boast against God. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. I care not what black spiritual crisis we may come through or what delightful spiritual Canaan we may enter, no blessing of the Christian life becomes continually possessed unless we are men and women of regular, daily, unhurried, secret lingerings in prayer. In the morning, prayer is the key that opens to us the treasures of God's mercies and blessings; in the evening, it is the key that shuts us up under His protection and safeguard. Prayer is a kind of calling home every day. And there can come to you a serenity, a feeling of at-homeness in God's universe, a peace that the world can neither give nor disturb, a fresh courage, a new insight, a holy boldness that you'll never, never get any other way. O God, if in the day of battle I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me. Seven days without prayer makes one weak. Lord, you know how busy I must be this day. If I forget you, do not you forget me. We read of preaching the Word out of season, but we do not read of praying out of season, for that is never out of season. Let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt at night. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray. - Bible Prayer should be the means by which I, at all times, receive all that I need, and, for this reason, be my daily refuge, my daily consolation, my daily joy, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy in life. As impossible as it is for us to take a breath in the morning large enough to last us until noon, so impossible is it to pray in the morning in such a way as to last us until noon. Let your prayers ascend to Him constantly, audibly or silently, as circumstances throughout the day permit. To God your every Want In instant Prayer display, Pray always; Pray, and never faint; Pray, without ceasing, Pray. Constant prayer quickly straightens out our thoughts. Teach us to pray often, that we may pray oftener. Abiding fully means praying much. Pray, always pray; beneath sins heaviest load, Prayer claims the blood from Jesus' side that flowed. Pray, always pray; though weary, faint, and lone, Prayer nestles by the Father's sheltering throne. When the knees are not often bent, the feet soon slide. The more praying there is in the world, the better the world will be; the mightier the forces against evil everywhere. Those who always pray are necessary to those who never pray. 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. Begin to realize more and more that prayer is the most important thing you do. You can use your time to no better advantage than to pray whenever you have an opportunity to do so, either alone or with others; while at work, while at rest, or while walking down the street. Anywhere! It is impossible to conduct your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer. Sometimes we think we are too busy to pray. That is a great mistake, for praying is a saving of time. Prayer time must be kept up as duly as meal-time. The minds of people are so cluttered up with every-day living these days that they don't, or won't, take time out for a little prayer-for mental cleansing, just as they take a bath for physical, outer cleansing. Both are necessary. The Christian will find his parentheses for prayer even in the busiest hours of life. Time spent in prayer is never wasted. No time is so well spent in every day as that which we spend upon our knees. Other duties become pressing and absorbing and crowd our prayer. "Choked to death" would be the coroner's verdict in many cases of dead praying if an inquest could be secured on this dire, spiritual calamity. When it becomes clear to us that prayer is a part of our daily program of work, it will also become clear to us that we must arrange our daily program in such a way that there is time also for this work, just as we set aside time for other necessary things, such as eating and dressing. I have to hurry all day to get time to pray. While others still slept, He went away to pray and to renew His strength in communion with His Father. He had need of this, otherwise He would not have been ready for the new day. The holy work of delivering souls demands constant renewal through fellowship with God. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. - Bible Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God. It is by no haphazard chance that in every age men have risen early to pray. The first thing that marks decline in spiritual life is our relationship to the early morning. The entire day receives order and discipline when it acquires unity. This unity must be sought and found in morning prayer. The morning prayer determines the day. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning. - Bible In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee. - Bible If you have ever prayed in the dawn you will ask yourself why you were so foolish as not to do it always: it is difficult to get into communion with God in the midst of the hurly-burly of the day. I feel it is far better to begin with God, to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another. In general it is best to have at least one hour alone with God before engaging in anything else. Lord, if any have to die this day, let it be me, for I am ready. Temptations which accompany the working day will be conquered on the basis of the morning breakthrough to God. Decisions, demanded by work, become easier and simpler where they are made not in the fear of men, but only in the sight of God. He wants to give us today the power which we need for our work. The man who says his prayers in the evening is a captain posting his sentries. After that, he can sleep. When at night you cannot sleep, talk to the Shepherd and stop counting sheep. I did this night promise my wife never to go to bed without calling upon God, upon my knees, in prayer. I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day. There are no atheists on turbulent airplanes. Ordinarily when a man in difficulty turns to prayer, he has already tried every other means of escape. When life knocks you to your knees, and it will, why, get up! If it knocks you to your knees again, as it will, well, isn't that the best position from which to pray? Now I am past all comforts here, but prayer. Prayer begins where human capacity ends. "Oh, God, if I were sure I were to die tonight I would repent at once." It is the commonest prayer in all languages. If you are swept off your feet, it's time to get on your knees. When I am weak, then am I strong. - Bible To pray is to open the door unto Jesus and admit Him into your distress. Your helplessness is the very thing which opens wide the door unto Him and gives Him access to all your needs. My helpless friend, your helplessness is the most powerful plea which rises up to the tender father-heart of God. You think that everything is closed to you because you cannot pray. My friend, your helplessness is the very essence of prayer. 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. 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. When we pray for the Spirit's help ... we will simply fall down at the Lord's feet in our weakness. There we will find the victory and power that comes from His love. The more helpless you are, the better you are fitted to pray, and the more answers to prayer you will experience. Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. - Bible When a man is at his wits' end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality. When my soul fainted within me ... my prayer came in unto thee. - Bible He will regard the prayer of the destitute. - Bible My strength is made perfect in weakness. - Bible God listens to our weeping when the occasion itself is beyond our knowledge, but still within His love and power. Trouble and prayer are closely related. . . . Trouble often drives men to God in prayer, while prayer is but the voice of men in trouble. Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble. An agnostic found himself in trouble, and a friend suggested he pray. "How can I pray when I do not know whether or not there is a God?" he asked. "If you are lost in the forest," his friend replied, "you do not wait until you find someone before shouting for help." Many people pray as if God were a big aspirin pill; they come only when they hurt. You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance. Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. He who cannot pray when the sun is shining will not know how to pray when the clouds come. All those football coaches who hold dressing-room prayers before a game should be forced to attend church once a week. Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude. Do not have as your motive the desire to be known as a praying man. Get an inner chamber in which to pray where no one knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Nowhere can we get to know the holiness of God, and come under His influence and power, except in the inner chamber. It has been well said: "No man can expect to make progress in holiness who is not often and long alone with God." Private place and plenty of time are the life of prayer. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy room, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. - Bible When you enter your secret chamber, take plenty of time before you begin to speak. Let quietude wield its influence upon you. Let the fact that you are alone assert itself. Give your soul time to get released from the many outward things. Give God time to play the prelude to prayer for the benefit of your distracted soul. There is no need to get to a place of prayer; pray wherever you are. Of all things, guard against neglecting God in the secret place of prayer. Prayer, to the patriarchs and prophets, was more than the recital of well-known and well-worn phrases-it was the outpouring of the heart. Without the incense of heartfelt prayer, even the greatest of cathedrals is dead. Follow your own way of speaking to our Lord sincerely, lovingly, confidently, and simply, as your heart dictates. Sincerity is the prime requisite in every approach to the God who ... hates all hypocrisy, falsehood, and deceit. The Lord's Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learnt by heart. God hears no more than the heart speaks; and if the heart be dumb, God will certainly be dumb. Deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it. You can't pray a lie-I found that out. Prayers not felt by us are seldom heard by God. Many pray with their lips for that for which their hearts have no desire. God may turn his ears from prattling prayers, or preaching prayers, but never from penitent, believing prayers. Two went to pray? Better to say one went to brag, the other to pray. I pray like a robber asking alms at the door of a farmhouse to which he is ready to set fire. God's ear lies close to the believer's lip. Heaven is never deaf but when man's heart is dumb. Do not pray by heart, but with the heart. Our prayers must mean something to us if they are to mean anything to God. Our prayers must spring from the indigenous soil of our own personal confrontation with the Spirit of God in our lives. God eagerly awaits the chance to bless the person whose heart is turned toward Him. We must lay before him what is in us, not what ought to be in us. In prayer the lips ne'er act the winning part, without the sweet concurrence of the heart. The cry of a young raven is nothing but the natural cry of a creature, but your cry, if it be sincere, is the result of a work of grace in your heart. Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new meaning in it which will give you fresh courage, and you will understand that prayer is an education. When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart. He offered a prayer so deeply devout that he seemed kneeling and praying at the bottom of the sea. Prayer is a serious thing. We may be taken at our words. 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 And help us, this and every day, to live more nearly as we pray. My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go. It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk. She heard the snuffle of hypocrisy in her prayer. She had to cease to pray. None can pray well but he that lives well. Straight praying is never born of crooked conduct. A wicked man in prayer may lift up his hands, but he cannot lift up his face. He who prays as he ought, will endeavor to live as he prays. We pray pious blether, our will is not in it, and then we say God does not answer; we never asked Him for anything. Asking means that our wills are in what we ask. It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay them in our practice. Praying which does not result in pure conduct is a delusion. We have missed the whole office and virtue of praying if it does not rectify conduct. It is in the very nature of things that we must quit praying, or quit bad conduct. Our praying, to be strong, must be buttressed by holy living. The life of faith perfects the prayer of faith. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me. - Bible When our will wholeheartedly enters into the prayer of Christ, then we pray correctly. We cannot talk to God strongly when we have not lived for God strongly. The closet cannot be made holy to God when the life has not been holy to God. If we would have God in the closet, God must have us out of the closet. There is no way of praying to God, but by living to God. Men would pray better if they lived better. They would get more from God if they lived more obedient and well-pleasing to God. Be not hot in prayer and cold in praise. Though smooth be the heartless prayer, no ear in heaven will mind it; And the finest phrase falls dead, if there is no feeling behind it. Prayer is the soul's sincere desire. Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul. Prayer is something deeper than words. It is present in the soul before it has been formulated in words. And it abides in the soul after the last words of prayer have passed over our lips. If we rely on the Holy Spirit, we shall find that our prayers become more and more inarticulate; and when they are inarticulate, reverence grows deeper and deeper. God prefers bad verses recited with a pure heart to the finest verses chanted by the wicked. - Voltaire We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. The best prayers have often more groans than words. In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. We ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity, speak to Him frankly and plainly, and implore His assistance in our affairs. Prayer is not artful monologue Of voice uplifted from the son; It is Love's tender dialogue Between the soul and God. They tell about a fifteen-year-old boy in an orphans' home who had an incurable stutter. One Sunday the minister was detained and the boy volunteered to say the prayer in his stead. He did it perfectly, too, without a single stutter. Later he explained, "I don't stutter when I talk to God. He loves me." Our groanings, which cannot be uttered, rise to Him and tell Him better than words how dependent we are upon Him. When prayer is a struggle, do not worry about the prayers that you cannot pray. You yourself are a prayer to God at that moment. All that is within you cries out to Him. And He hears all the pleas that your suffering soul and body are making to Him with groanings which cannot be uttered. God can pick sense out of a confused prayer. Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue. Productive prayer requires earnestness, not eloquence. Just pray for a tough hide and a tender heart. Prayer is a fine, delicate instrument. To use it right is a great art, a holy art. There is perhaps no greater art than the art of prayer. Yet the least gifted, the uneducated and the poor can cultivate the holy art of prayer. With God there is no need for long speeches. The fewer the words, the better the prayer. In prayer, more is accomplished by listening than by talking. Prayer should be short, without giving God Almighty reasons why He should grant this or that; He knows best what is good for us. God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. - Bible Many words do not a good prayer make; what counts is the heartfelt desire to commune with God, and the faith to back it up. A little lifting of the heart suffices; a little remembrance of God, one act of inward worship are prayers which, however short, are nevertheless acceptable to God. There come times when I have nothing more to tell God. If I were to continue to pray in words, I would have to repeat what I have already said. At such times it is wonderful to say to God, "May I be in Thy presence, Lord? I have nothing more to say to Thee, but I do love to be in Thy presence." Short prayers pierceth Heaven. You are coming to a King, Large petitions with you bring For his grace and power are such None can ever ask too much. There is no sinner in the world, however much at enmity with God, who cannot recover God's grace by recourse to Mary, and by asking her assistance. Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little and are content with little. Ye have not, because ye ask not. - Bible Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss. - Bible Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. - Bible Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. The simple heart that freely asks in love, obtains. Our immediate temptation will be to ask for specific solutions to specific problems, and for the ability to help other people as we have already thought they should be helped. In that case, we are asking God to do it our way. - Bill W. It is the will of our heavenly Father that we should come to Him freely and confidently and make known our desires to Him, just as we would have our children come freely and of their own accord and speak to us about the things they would like to have. My praying friend, continue to make known your desires to God in all things. ... Let Him decide whether you are to receive what you ask for or not. Let your requests be made known unto God. - Bible Pray for whatsoever you will. In the name of Jesus you have permission, not only to stand in the presence of God, but also to pray for everything you need. And whatever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do. - Bible We should not be afraid, when praying to God, to give expression to a definite desire, even though we are in doubt at the time we are praying whether it is really the right thing to pray for or not. We can never know God as it is our privilege to know Him by brief repetitions that are requests for personal favors, and nothing more. Prayer is not only asking, it is an attitude of heart that produces an atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural, and Jesus says, "every one that asketh receiveth." Helplessness becomes prayer the moment that you go to Jesus and speak candidly and confidently with him about your needs. This is to believe. The clue is not to ask in a miserly way-the key is to ask in a grand manner. To avail yourself of His certain wisdom, ask of Him whatever questions you have. But do not entreat Him, for that will never be necessary. O Lord, attend unto my cry. - Bible We pray pious blether, our will is not in it, and then we say God does not answer; we never asked Him for anything. Asking means that our wills are in what we ask. Ask the gods nothing excessive. When praying for healing, ask great things of God and expect great things from God. But let us seek for that healing that really matters, the healing of the heart, enabling us to trust God simply, face God honestly, and live triumphantly. Most people do not pray; they only beg. Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and wine. God never denied that soul anything that went as far as heaven to ask it. Ask in faith. - Bible If your prayer is selfish, the answer will be something that will rebuke your selfishness. You may not recognize it as having come at all, but it is sure to be there. Selfishness is never so exquisitely selfish as when it is on its knees. ... Self turns what would otherwise be a pure and powerful prayer into a weak and ineffective one. I seldom made an errand to God for another but I got something for myself. When we make self the end of prayer, it is not worship but self-seeking. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; The Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. Pray for one another. - Bible Intercessory prayer for one who is sinning prevails. God says so! The will of the man prayed for does not come into question at all, he is connected with God by prayer, and prayer on the basis of the Redemption sets the connection working and God gives life. He who prays for his neighbors will be heard for himself. - Talmud We should say to God as we mingle with our dear ones each day, "God, give them each Thy blessing. They need it, because they live with me, and I am very selfish and unwilling to sacrifice very much for them, although I do love them." See to it, night and day, that you pray for your children. Then you will leave them a great legacy of answers to prayer, which will follow them all the days of their life. Then you may calmly and with a good conscience depart from them, even though you may not leave them a great deal of material wealth. Religion without humanity is a poor human stuff. God bless all those that I love; God bless all those that love me; God bless all those that love those that I love and all those that love those that love me. No one who has had a unique experience with prayer has a right to withhold it from others. Thou who has given so much to me, give one thing more: a grateful heart. If the only prayer you say in your whole life is "Thank you," that would suffice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. - Bible Fear of trouble, present and future, often blinds us to the numerous small blessings we enjoy, silencing our prayers of praise and thanksgiving. God deserves far more praise than any of us could ever give Him. Our Father, let the spirit of gratitude so prevail in our hearts that we may manifest thy Spirit in our lives. A sensible thanksgiving for mercies received is a mighty prayer in the Spirit of God. It prevails with Him unspeakably. God receives little thanks, even for his greatest gifts. It is not only blessed to give thanks; it is also of vital importance to our prayer life in general. If we have noted the Lord's answers to our prayers and thanked Him for what we have received of Him, then it becomes easier for us, and we get more courage, to pray for more. To stand on one leg and prove God's existence is a very different thing from going down on one's knees and thanking him. Our thanks to God should always precede our requests. Jesus is moved to happiness every time He sees that you appreciate what He has done for you. Grip His pierced hand and say to Him, "I thank Thee, Savior, because Thou hast died for me." Thank Him likewise for all the other blessings He has showered upon you from day to day. It brings joy to Jesus. The idea of thanking staff should mean giving them something that they would never buy for themselves. Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will draw our hearts out to God and keep us engaged with Him; it will take our attention from ourselves and give the Spirit room in our hearts. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. - Bible When we succeed in truly thanking God, we feel good at heart. The reason is that we have been created to give glory to God, now and for-evermore. And every time we do so, we feel that we are in harmony with His plans and purposes for our lives. Then we are truly in our element. That is why it is so blessed. Don't be timid when you pray; rather, batter the very gates of heaven with storms of prayer. Let him never cease from prayer who has once begun it, be his life ever so wicked, for prayer is the way to amend it, and without prayer such amendment will be much more difficult. How those holy men of old could storm the battlements above! When there was no way to look but up, they lifted up their eyes to God who made the hills, with unshakable confidence. Cold prayers shall never have any warm answers. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We may as well not pray at all as offer our prayers in a lifeless manner. 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. It is only when the whole heart is gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends, for none but the earnest man gets access to the ear of God. To say prayers in a decent, delicate way is not heavy work. But to pray really, to pray till hell feels the ponderous stroke, to pray till the iron gates of difficulty are opened, till the mountains of obstacles are removed, till the mists are exhaled and the clouds are lifted, and the sunshine of a cloudless day brightens-this is hard work, but it is God's work, and man's best labor. Importunity is a condition of prayer. We are to press the matter, not with vain repetitions, but with urgent repetitions. We repeat, not to count the times, but to gain the prayer. We cannot quit praying because heart and soul are in it. We pray "with all perseverance." We hang to our prayers because by them we live. We press our pleas because we must have them, or die. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - Bible From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us. Let me burn out for God ... prayer is the great thing. Oh, that I may be a man of prayer! Look, as a painted man is no man, and as painted fire is no fire, so a cold prayer is no prayer. There must be fired affections before our prayers will go up. Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down. Do not work so hard for Christ that you have no strength to pray, for prayer requires strength. In Fellowship; alone To God, with Faith, draw near, Approach His Courts, besiege His Throne With all the power of Prayer. Productive prayer requires earnestness, not eloquence. Jesus taught that perseverance is the essential element of prayer. Men must be in earnest when they kneel at God's footstool. Too often we get faint-hearted and quit praying at the point where we ought to begin. We let go at the very point where we should hold on strongest. Our prayers are weak because they are not impassioned by an unfailing and resistless will. We must move from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart. We cannot ask in behalf of Christ what Christ would not ask Himself if He were praying. Thou who has given so much to me, give one thing more: a grateful heart. We do pray for mercy, and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy. Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us. - Socrates Lord, take my lips and speak through them; take my mind and think through it; take my heart and set it on fire. Not what we wish, but what we need, Oh! let your grace supply, The good unasked, in mercy grant; The ill, though asked, deny. We should pray for a sane mind in a sound body. - Juvenal 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. O Lord, help me not to despise or oppose what I do not understand. We are going home to many who cannot read. So, Lord, make us to be Bibles so that those who cannot read the Book can read it in us. God's promises are to be our pleas in prayer. Help me to work and pray, Help me to live each day, That all I do may say, Thy kingdom come. We must pray for more prayer, for it is the world's mightiest healing force. O Lord, let me not live to be useless! God give me work, till my life shall end And life, till my work is done. The whole meaning of prayer is that we may know God. Watch your motive before God; have no other motive in prayer than to know Him. For we know not what we should pray for. - Bible Pray a little each day in a childlike way for the Spirit of prayer. If you feel that you know, as yet, very little concerning the deep things of prayer and what prayer really is, then pray for the Spirit of prayer. There is nothing He would rather do than unveil to you the grace of prayer. God does not exist to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God. I sit beside my lonely fire and pray for wisdom yet: for calmness to remember or courage to forget. The first petition that we are to make to Almighty God is for a good conscience, the next for health of mind, and then of body. - Seneca 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. Grant that we may not so much seek to be understood as to understand. Grant me the courage not to give up, even though I think it is hopeless. Prayer for worldly goods is worse than fruitless, but prayer for strength of soul is that passion of the soul which catches the gift it seeks. Just pray for a tough hide and a tender heart. The purpose of prayer is not to inform God of our needs, but to invite Him to rule our lives. Don't pray to escape trouble. Don't pray to be comfortable in your emotions. Pray to do the will of God in every situation. Nothing else is worth praying for. O Lord, forgive what I have been, sanctify what I am, and order what I shall be. Spread out your petition before God, and then say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the Lord choose for me. Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. - Bible The possibilities of prayer are found in its allying itself with the purposes of God, for God's purposes and man's praying are the combination of all potent and omnipotent forces. If we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. - Bible I would have no desire other than to accomplish thy will. Teach me to pray; pray thyself in me. True prayer brings a person's will into accordance with God's will, not the other way around. Do not forget that prayer is ordained for the purpose of glorifying the name of God. Therefore, whether you pray for big things or for little things, say to God, "If it will glorify Thy name, then grant my prayer and help me." It is only when we pray for something according to the will of God that we have the promise of being heard and answered. I used to pray that God would do this or that; now I pray that God will make His will known to me. How many of us will ever sit... bow our heads, and pray "Lord, show me where I'm wrong"? Women don't have halos built in. A Chinese Christian prayed every day .... "Lord, reform Thy world, beginning with me." Create in me a clean heart, O God. - Bible 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. The wise man in the storm prays God not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It is quite useless knocking at the door of heaven for earthly comfort. It's not the sort of comfort they supply there. Pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs. Prayer covers the whole of man's life. There is no thought, feeling, yearning, or desire, however low, trifling, or vulgar we may deem it, which if it affects our real interest or happiness, we may not lay before God and be sure of sympathy. His nature is such that our often coming does not tire him. The whole burden of the whole life of every man may be rolled on to God and not weary him, though it has wearied man. What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in Prayer! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge, Take it to the Lord in prayer. O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer! Take my will, and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine; Take my heart, it is Thine own; It shall be Thy royal throne. And since He bids me seek His face, Believe His word and trust His grace, I'll cast on Him my every care, And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer. We lie to God in prayer if we do not rely on him afterwards. Prayer puts God's work in his hands-and keeps it there. I know not by what methods rare, But this I know: God answers prayer. I know not if the blessing sought Will come in just the guise I thought. I leave my prayer to Him alone Whose will is wiser than my own. Do what you can and pray for what you cannot yet do. Do not want things to turn out as they seem best to you, but as God pleases. Then you will be free from confusion, and thankful in prayer. O Lord, you know what is best for me. Let this or that be done, as you please. Give what you will, how much you will, and when you will. Spread out your petition before God, and then say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the Lord choose for me. Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you. - Bible Do not strive in your own strength; cast yourself at the feet of the Lord Jesus, and wait upon Him in the sure confidence that He is with you, and works in you. Strive in prayer; let faith fill your heart-so will you be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. A humble and contrite heart knows that it can merit nothing before God, and that all that is necessary is to be reconciled to one's helplessness and let our holy and almighty God care for us, just as an infant surrenders himself to his mother's care. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. The only prayer which a well-meaning man can pray is, O ye gods, give me whatever is fitting unto me! Our prayer life will become restful when it really dawns upon us that we have done all we are supposed to do when we have spoken to Him about it. From the moment we have left it with Him, it is His responsi-bility. God tells us to burden him with whatever burdens us. This is what I found out about religion: It gives you courage to make decisions you must make in a crisis, and then the confidence to leave the result to a Higher Power. Only by trust in God can a man carrying responsibility find repose. Before we can pray, "Lord, Thy Kingdom come," we must be willing to pray, "My Kingdom go." We need to learn to know Him so well that we feel safe when we have left our difficulties with Him. To know Jesus in that way is a prerequisite of all true prayer. No prayers can be heard which do not come from a forgiving heart. I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone. When you pray for anyone, you tend to modify your personal attitude toward him. 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. There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him. Ask God's blessing on your work, but don't ask him to do it for you. Prayer indeed is good, but while calling on the gods, a man should himself lend a hand. Prayer, among sane people, has never superseded practical efforts to secure the desired end. It is vain to expect our prayers to be heard if we do not strive as well as pray. - Aesop He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands. Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended upon man. Work as if everything depended upon work and pray as if everything depended upon prayer. Help yourself and heaven will help you. Work as if you were to live one hundred years; pray as if you were to die tomorrow. God helps those who help themselves. God help those who do not help themselves. God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them. God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest. Pray devoutly, but hammer stoutly. The Ancient Mariner said to Neptune during a great storm, "O God, you will save me if you wish, but I am going to go on holding my tiller straight." Pray to God, but keep rowing to shore. Call on God, but row away from the rocks. To the man who himself strives earnestly, God also lends a helping hand. Trust in Allah, but tie your camel first. It is vain to ask of the gods what man is capable of supplying for himself. - Epicurus Heaven ne'er helps the men who will not act. To give pleasure to a single heart by a single kind act is better than a thousand head-bowings in prayer. - Sa'di Always look for ways to act upon the faith you display in your prayers. You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed. Visualize, "prayerize," "actionize," and your wishes will come true. There is a time for all things; a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away; there is a time to fight, and that time has come! Prayer is often a temptation to bank on a miracle of God instead of on a moral issue, i.e., it is much easier to ask God to do my work than it is to do it myself. Until we are disciplined properly, we will always be inclined to bank on God's miracles and refuse to do the moral thing ourselves. It is our job, and it will never be done unless we do it. Some people think that prayer just means asking for things, and if they fail to receive exactly what they asked for, they think the whole thing is a fraud. Poverty, chastity, and obedience are extremely difficult. But there are always the graces if you will pray for them. Real prayer seeks an audience and an answer. There are three answers to prayer: yes, no, and wait awhile. It must be recognized that no is an answer. There are four ways God answers prayer: No, not yet; No, I love you too much; Yes, I thought you'd never ask; Yes, and here's more. No answer to prayer is an indication of our merit; every answer to prayer is an indication of God's mercy. God answers all true prayer, either in kind or in kindness. God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. When I have a problem I pray about it, and what comes to mind and stays there I assume to be my answer. And this has been right so often that I know it is God's answer. Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer. I think Christians fail so often to get answers to their prayers because they do not wait long enough on God. They just drop down and say a few words, and then jump up and forget it and expect God to answer them. Such praying always reminds me of the small boy ringing his neighbor's door-bell, and then running away as fast as he can go. When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't. Our understanding of God is the answer to prayer; getting things from God is God's indulgence of us. When God stops giving us things, He brings us into the place where we can begin to understand Him. If God sees that my spiritual life will be furthered by giving the things for which I ask, then He will give them, but that is not the end of prayer. The end of prayer is that I come to know God Himself. You say, "But He has not answered." He has, He is so near to you that His silence is the answer. His silence is big with terrific meaning that you cannot understand yet, but presently you will. When we pray "in the Name of Jesus" the answers are in accordance with His nature, and if we think our prayers are unanswered it is because we are not interpreting the answer along this line. God's silences are His answers. If we only take as answers those that are visible to our senses, we are in a very elementary condition of grace. Who rises from prayer a better man, his prayer is answered. God has editing rights over our prayers. He will... edit them, correct them, bring them in line with His will and then hand them back to us to be resubmitted. The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer. My prayers, my God, flow from what I am not; I think Thy answers make me what I am. The greatest blessing of prayer is not receiving the answer, but being the kind of person God can trust with His answer. God answers prayer with certainty. Wish fulfillment is something else. God delays, but doesn't forget. A generous prayer is never presented in vain; the petition may be refused, but the petitioner is always, I believe, rewarded by some gracious visitation. I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. The answer of our prayers is secured by the fact that in rejecting them God would in a certain sense deny His own nature. There are two main pitfalls on the road to mastery of the art of prayer. If a person gets what he asks for, his humility is in danger. If he fails to get what he asks for, he is apt to lose confidence. Indeed, no matter whether prayer seems to be succeeding or failing, humility and confidence are two virtues which are absolutely essential. If we be empty and poor, it is not because God's hand is straitened, but ours is not opened. I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone. I know not by what methods rare, But this I know: God answers prayer. I know not if the blessing sought Will come in just the guise I thought. I leave my prayer to Him alone Whose will is wiser than my own. Our prayers are often filled with selfish "wants"; God always answers with what we need. We ought not to tolerate for a minute the ghastly and grievous thought that God will not answer prayer. Though I am weak, yet God, when prayed, Cannot withhold his conquering aid. Beyond our utmost wants His love and power can bless; To praying souls he always grants More than they can express. Whatever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that you receive them, and ye shall have them. - Bible The firmament of the Bible is ablaze with answers to prayer. Never was a faithful prayer lost. Some prayers have a longer voyage than others, but then they return with their richer lading at last, so that the praying soul is a gainer by waiting for an answer. 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. Sometimes ... God answers our prayers in the way our parents do, who reply to the pleas of their children with "Not just now" or "I'll have to think about that for a little while." Answered prayers cover the field of providential history as flowers cover western prairies. In seasons of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief, And oft escaped the tempter's snare, By thy return, sweet hour of prayer. God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers, And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face. A gauntlet with a gift in't. Our prayers run along one road and God's answers by another, and by and by they meet. God's chief gift to those who seek him is Himself. Asking for anything is allowed with the understanding that God's answers come from God's perspective. They are not always in harmony with our expectations, for only He knows the whole story. May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; May the name of the God of Jacob protect you, May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. - Bible Just when I need Him, He is my all, Answering when upon Him I call; Tenderly watching lest I should fall. The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withheld the request of his lips. - Bible Those who trade with heaven by prayer grow rich by quick returns. The great thing in prayer is to feel that we are putting our supplications into the bosom of omnipotent love. When you go to your knees, God will help you stand up to anything. Prayer has marked the trees across the wilderness of a skeptical world to direct the traveler in distress, and all paths lead to a single light. Amazing things start happening when we start praying! Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of Himself. The man who prays grows, and the muscles of the soul swell from this whipcord to iron bands. Prayer opens our eyes that we may see ourselves and others as God sees us. It is impossible to lose your footing while on your knees. The exercise of prayer, in those who habitually exert it, must be regarded by us doctors as the most adequate and normal of all the pacifiers of the mind and calmers of the nerves. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body ... can be measured in terms of increased physical buoyancy, greater intellectual vigor, moral stamina, and a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human relationships. The essence of prayer, even of a mystical experience, is the way we are altered to see everything from its life-filled dimension. Prayer puts God's work in His hands-and keeps it there. It is hard to wait and press and pray, and hear no voice, but stay till God answers. Prayer is a kind of calling home every day. And there can come to you a serenity, a feeling of at-homeness in God's universe, a peace that the world can neither give nor disturb, a fresh courage, a new insight, a holy boldness that you'll never, never get any other way. Pray because you have a Father, not because it quietens you, and give Him time to answer. Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. - Bill W. We impoverish God in our minds when we say there must be answers to our prayers on the material plane; the biggest answers to our prayers are in the realm of the unseen. Our Lord never referred to unanswered prayer; he taught that prayers are always answered. He ever implied that prayers were answered rightly because of the Heavenly Father's wisdom. As white snow flakes fall quietly and thickly on a winter day, answers to prayer will settle down upon you at every step you take, even to your dying day. The story of your life will be the story of prayer and answers to prayer. God is a rich and bountiful Father, and He does not forget His children, nor withhold from them anything which it would be to their advantage to receive. Just as an earthly father knows what is best for his children's welfare, so does God take into consideration the particular needs of His human family, and meets them out of His wonderful storehouse. Prayer brings a good spirit in our homes. For God hears prayer. Heaven itself would come down to our homes. And even though we who constitute the home all have our imperfections and our failings, our home would, through God's answer to prayer, become a little paradise. God's willingness to answer our prayers exceeds our willingness to give good and necessary things to our children, just as far as God's ability, goodness and perfection exceed our infirmities and evil. The greatest answer to prayer is that I am brought into a perfect understanding with God, and that alters my view of actual things. God's "nothings" are His most positive answers. We have to stay on God and wait. Never try to help God to fulfill His word. 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. If a door slams shut it means that God is pointing to an open door further on down. We, ignorant of ourselves, beg often our own harms, which the wise powers deny us for our good. Prayer is the easiest and hardest of all things; the simplest and the sublim-est; the weakest and the most powerful; its results lie outside the range of human possibilities-they are limited only by the omnipotence of God. Prayer, like faith, obtains promises, enlarges their operation, and adds to the measure of their results. If we will make use of prayer to call down upon ourselves and others those things which will glorify the name of God, then we shall see the strongest and boldest promises of the Bible about prayer fulfilled. Then we shall see such answers to prayer as we had never thought were possible. Let it be your business every day, in the secrecy of the inner chamber, to meet the holy God. You will be repaid for the trouble it may cost you. The reward will be sure and rich. One great effect of prayer is that it enables the soul to command the body. By obedience I make my body submissive to my soul, but prayer puts my soul in command of my body. If we pray for anything according to the will of God, we already have what we pray for the moment we ask it. We do not know exactly when it will arrive; but we have learned to know God through the Spirit of God, and have learned to leave this in His hands, and to live just as happily whether the answer arrives immediately or later. It is God's will not only to hear our prayer, but to give us the best and the richest answer which He, the almighty and omniscient God, can devise. He will send us the answer when it will benefit us and His cause the most. If God does not give you something you ask for, wait on Him. He will speak with you tenderly and sympathetically about the matter until you yourself understand that He cannot grant your prayer. The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it hath bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. Be sure to remember that nothing in your daily life is so insignificant and so inconsequential that the Lord will not help you by answering your prayer. More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones. True prayer always receives what it asks for-or something better. Be thankful that God's answers are wiser than your answers. God punishes us mildly by ignoring our prayers, and severely by answering them. When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers. God alone fully understands what each one of us needs; we make mistakes continually and pray for things which would be harmful to us if we received them. Afterwards we see our mistakes and realize that God is good and wise in not giving us these things, even though we plead ever so earnestly for them. When the gods are angry with a man, they give him what he asks for. I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered. Prayer is the supreme activity of all that is noblest in our personality, and the essential nature of prayer is faith. Prayer is the voice of faith. The prayer that is faithless is fruitless. A saint is to put forth his faith in prayer, and afterwards follow his prayer with faith. The prayer of faith is the only power in the universe to which the great Jehovah yields. Prayers are heard in heaven very much in proportion to your faith. Little faith will get very great mercies, but great faith still greater. The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. 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. Faith is the fountain of prayer, and prayer should be nothing else but faith exercised. Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is. - Bible When we pray we link ourselves with an inexhaustible motive power. Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair. Granting that we are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in His presence in a very different sense; for they, as it were, see that He is looking upon them, while others may go for days on end without even once recollecting that God sees them. Why is it when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic? It is in recognizing the actual presence of God that we find prayer no longer a chore, but a supreme delight. Essentially prayer is based on a relationship. We don't converse freely with someone we don't know. We bare our souls and disclose our hidden secrets only to someone we trust. I who still pray at morning and at eve Thrice in my life perhaps have truly prayed, Thrice stirred below conscious self Have felt that perfect disenthrallment which is God. Prayer is the soul's breathing itself into the bosom of its heavenly Father. Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan. Prayer is the spiritual gymnasium in which we exercise and practice godliness. Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God. Prayer is the acid test of devotion. Prayer serves as an edge and border to preserve the web of life from unraveling. Prayer is the ascending vapor which supplies The showers of blessing, and the stream that flows Through earth's dry places, till on every side "The wilderness shall blossom as the rose." Prayer is a rising up and a drawing near to God in mind and in heart, and in spirit. Prayer means that we have come boldly into the throne room and we are standing in His presence. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one's heart. It means rather to find the way to God and to speak with him, whether the heart is full or empty. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life. Prayer is our most formidable weapon, the thing which makes all else we do efficient. Prayer is not logical, it is a mysterious moral working of the Holy Spirit. Prayer should be the means by which I, at all times, receive all that I need, and, for this reason, be my daily refuge, my daily consolation, my daily joy, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy in life. Prayer is the spirit speaking truth to Truth. Prayer is a cry of distress, a demand for help, a hymn of love. Prayer, in its simplest definition, is merely a wish turned God-ward. Prayer is the evidence that I am spiritually concentrated on God. Prayer is the pillow of religion. Prayer is God's answer to our poverty, not a power we exercise to obtain an answer. Prayer is a condition of mind, an attitude of heart, which God recognizes as prayer whether it manifests itself in quiet thinking, in sighing or in audible words. Prayer is an all-efficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky unobscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by the storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings. Some pray to marry the man they love, my prayer will somewhat vary; I humbly pray to Heaven above that I love the man I marry. The prayers of the Christian are secret, but their effect cannot be hidden. Man is the only creature which rises by bowing, for he finds elevation in his subjection to his Maker. Lord, till I reach that blissful shore, No privilege so dear shall be As thus my inmost soul to pour In prayer to thee. Revival fires flame where hearts are praying. If we could all hear one another's prayers, God might be relieved of some of his burden. What I dislike least in my former self are the moments of prayer. Our rages, daughters of despair, creep and squirm like worms. Prayer is the only form of revolt which remains upright. Prayer reaches out in love to a dying world and says, "I care." To pray together, in whatever tongue or ritual, is the most tender brotherhood of hope and sympathy that man can contract in this life. The deepest wishes of the heart find expression in secret prayer. We are never more like Christ than in prayers of intercession. The spirit of prayer is the fruit and token of the Spirit of adoption. If we do not love one another, we certainly shall not have much power with God in prayer. Keep us, Lord, so awake in the duties of our calling that we may sleep in thy peace and wake in thy glory. I find in the Psalms much the same range of mood and expression as I perceive within my own life of prayer. I am used to praying when I am alone, thank God. But when I come together with other people, when I need more than ever to pray, I still cannot get used to it. Nothing is discussed more and practiced less than prayer. 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. Nor it is an objection to say that we must understand a prayer if it is to have its true effect. That simply is not the case. Who understands the wisdom of a flower? Yet we can take pleasure in it. I would rather stand against the cannons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous. Restraining prayer, we cease to fight; Prayer keeps the Christian's armor bright; And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees. God dwells where we let God in. Courage is not afraid to weep, and she is not afraid to pray, even when she is not sure who she is praying to. Saints of the early church reaped great harvests in the field of prayer and found the mercy seat to be a mine of untold treasures. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorn'd the venerable place; Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, And fools who came to scoff, remain'd to pray. The wings of prayer carry high and far. In the calm of sweet communion Let thy daily work be done; In the peace of soul-outpouring Care be banished, patience won; And if earth with its enchantments Seek thy spirit to enthrall, Ere thou listen, ere thou answer, Turn to Jesus, tell Him all. God warms his hands at man's heart when he prays. Turn your doubts to question; turn your question to prayers; turn your prayers to God. Prayer, like radium, is a luminous and self-generating form of energy. Whatever you do in revenge against your brother will appear all at once in your heart at the time of payer. Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. Never say you will pray about a thing; pray about it. Doubt not but God who sits on high, Thy secret prayers can hear; When a dead wall thus cunningly Conveys soft whispers to the ear. The granting of prayer, when offered in the name of Jesus, reveals the Father's love to him, and the honor which he has put upon him. A prayer, in its simplest definition, is merely a wish turned heavenward. They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright! Prayer is the voice of faith. Prayer is not to be used as a confessional, to cancel sin. Such an error would impede true religion. Sin is forgiven only as it is destroyed by Christ - Truth and Light. You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorn'd the venerable place; Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools, who came to scoff, remain'd to pray. He that will learn to pray, let him go to Sea. O God, if in the day of battle I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me. If I am right, Thy grace impart, Still in the right to stay; If I am wrong, O teach my heart To find that better way! Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen. - Matthew God warms his hands at man's heart when he prays. Every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth. - Matthew Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us. - Socrates Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. - Matthew Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended upon man. Give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath, and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death, loyal and loving one to anther. 
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