quotations about prayer
Prayer is the expression of desire; its value comes from our inward aspirations, from their tenor and their strength. Take away desire, the prayer ceases; increase or diminish its intensity, the prayer soars upward or has no wings. Inversely, take away the expression while leaving the desire, and the prayer in many ways remains intact. Has a child who says nothing but looks longingly at a toy in a shop-window, and then at his smiling mother, not formulated the most moving prayer? And even if he had not seen the toy, is not the desire for play, innate in the child as is the thirst for movement, in the eyes of his parents a standing prayer which they grant?
ANTONIN SERTILLANGES
The Intellectual Life
Every person has his own ideas of the act of praying for God's guidance, tolerance, and mercy to fulfill his duties and responsibilities. My own concept of prayer is not as a plea for special favors nor as a quick palliation for wrongs knowingly committed. A prayer, it seems to me, implies a promise as well as a request; at the highest level, prayer not only is a supplication for strength and guidance, but also becomes an affirmation of life and thus a reverent praise of God.
WALT DISNEY
Deeds Rather Than Words
Now, prayer, in the most general and abstracted notion of that word, may be described: the speech of the rational creature unto God, whether conceived in the heart, or uttered by the mouth; whereby we either celebrate his amiable perfections, confess our own defects, implore his divine power for the mercies we want, or thank him for the blessings we have received.
WILLIAM MCEWAN
"On Prayer", Select Essays Doctrinal & Practical on a Variety of the Most Important and Interesting Subjects in Divinity
In memorizing the prayer, it may be helpful to remind yourself that you are not addressing some extraterrestrial being outside you. The kingdom of heaven is within us, and the Lord is enshrined in the depths of our own consciousness. In this prayer we are calling deep into ourselves, appealing to the spark of the divine that is our real nature.
EKNATH EASWARAN
God Makes the Rivers Flow
Prayer is the stimulant of the feeble.
ABRAHAM MILLER
Unmoral Maxims
A lot of folks would do more prayin' if they could find a soft spot for their knees.
KEN ALSTAD
Savvy Sayin's
Whooah, we're half way there
WOOOOAH Livin on a prayer
BON JOVI
"Livin' on a Prayer"
The prayer that yields the richest rewards of grace is the prayer we pray for our enemies.
CROFT M. PENTZ
The Complete Book of Zingers
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
BIBLE
James 5:16
The most meaningful and spiritual prayers I have experienced contained many expressions of thanks and few, if any, requests.
DAVID A. BEDNAR
"Pray Always", October 2008
Prayer is ecstatic communication with your innernavigational computer.
TIMOTHY LEARY
Your Brain Is God
Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.
GORDON B. HINCKLEY
Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes
It is not well for a man to pray cream, and live skim milk.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Life Thoughts
As a coal is revived by incense, so prayer revives the hopes of the heart.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe
It may be that ministers really think that their prayers do good, and it may be that frogs imagine that their croaking brings spring.
ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
"Which Way?"
Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence.
OSCAR WILDE
attributed, The Epigrams of Oscar Wilde
The first thing we are told about prayer is that it is simply a conversation with God. We are not talking at God, but talking to him. Prayer is how we speak to God, and his Word is how he speaks to us. All too often my prayer life devolves into me just firing off my requests and then going to my spiritual shopping cart, hitting ‘place order,’ and expecting an answer to be delivered in the time I specify.
BRAD RINE
"Is Your Prayer Life Like Your Amazon Shopping Cart", The Bible Chapel, June 19, 2018
It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
MAHATMA GANDHI
Young India, January 23, 1930
Prayer is the most direct expression of the religious consciousness.
LOUIS BERKHOF
Biblical Archaeology
In prayer the lips ne'er act the winning part
Without the sweet concurrence of the heart.
ROBERT HERRICK
Hesperides