Prayer

"I find that prayers don’t work when you need them most. Unless you answer them for yourself."

"If he is infinitely good, what reason should we have to fear him? If he is infinitely wise, why should we have doubts concerning our future? If he knows all, why warn him of our needs and fatigue him with our prayers? If he is everywhere, why erect temples to him? If he is just, why fear that he will punish the creatures that he has filled with weaknesses?"

"Prayer is not used to inform, for God is omniscient; not to move compassion, for God is without passions; not to show gratitude, for God knows our hearts. May not a man, that has true notions, be a pious man, though he be silent?"

"For Adoration, incense comes From bezoar, and Arabian gums, And from the civet’s fur: But as for prayer, or e’er it faints, Far better is the breath of saints Than galbanum or myrrh."

"Children are the keys of Paradise … They alone are good and wise, Because their thoughts, their very lives, are prayer."

"The first things that hinders the prayer of a good man from obtaining its effects is a violent anger, and a violent storm in the spirit him who prayers."

"At the highest level of consciousness, an individual is alone. Such solitude can seem strange, unusual, even difficult. Foolish people try to escape it by means of various dissipations in order to get away from this high point, to some lower point, but wise people remain at this high point, with the help of prayer."

"Not prayer without faith, nor faith without prayer, but prayer in faith, is the cost of spiritual gifts and graces."

"It is best to read the weather forecast before we pray for rain."

"School children and students who love God should never say: “For my part I like mathematics”; “I like French”; “I like Greek.” They should learn to like all these subjects, because all of them develop that faculty of attention which, directed toward God, is the very substance of prayer."

"MENDEL: Once you’re on your knees, you can’t stand up straight again."

"True prayer is waiting for God to come when and how He wants to."

"Rapt into still communion that transcends The imperfect offices of prayer and praise, His mind was a thanksgiving to the power That made him; it was blessedness and love!"

"God, though this life is but a wraith, Although we know not what we use, Although we grope with little faith, Give me the heart to fight—and lose."

"From compromise and things half done, Keep me with stern and stubborn pride; And when, at last, the fight is won, God, keep me still unsatisfied."

"We ask for the aid of thy Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray, what we should ask for, and how to ask that we may receive."

"Prayer ardent opens heaven."

"Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to insure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen."

"Yet then from all my grief, O Lord, Thy mercy set me free, Whilst in the confidence of pray'r My soul took hold on thee."

"And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe, O never, never turn away thine ear! Forlorn, in this bleak wilderness below, Ah! what were man, should Heaven refuse to hear!"

"She knows omnipotence has heard her prayer And cries, "It shall be done—sometime, somewhere.""

"Just my vengeance complete, The man sprang to his feet, Stood erect, caught at God's skirts, and prayed! So, I was afraid!"

"They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright!"

"Father! no prophet's laws I seek,— Thy laws in Nature's works appear;— I own myself corrupt and weak, Yet will I pray, for thou wilt hear."

"Father of Light! Great God of Heaven! Hear'st thou the accents of despair? Can guilt like man's be e'er forgiven? Can vice atone for crimes by prayer?"

"Pray to be perfect, though material leaven Forbid the spirit so on earth to be; But if for any wish thou darest not pray, Then pray to God to cast that wish away."

"The saints will aid if men will call: For the blue sky bends over all."

"But maybe prayer is a road to rise, A mountain path leading toward the skies To assist the spirit who truly tries. But it isn't a shibboleth, creed, nor code, It isn't a pack-horse to carry your load, It isn't a wagon, it's only a road. And perhaps the reward of the spirit who tries Is not the goal, but the exercise!"

"Not as we wanted it, But as God granted it."

"I always pray before any of the operation. I think God help me know what to do."

"And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees."

"I ask not a life for the dear ones, All radiant, as others have done, But that life may have just enough shadow To temper the glare of the sun; I would pray God to guard them from evil, But my prayer would bound back to myself: Ah! a seraph may pray for a sinner, But a sinner must pray for himself."

"Our vows are heard betimes! and Heaven takes care To grant, before we can conclude the prayer: Preventing angels met it half the way, And sent us back to praise, who came to pray."

"Grant folly's prayers that hinder folly's wish, And serve the ends of wisdom."

"Almighty Father! let thy lowly child, Strong in his love of truth, be wisely bold,— A patriot bard, by sycophants reviled, Let him live usefully, and not die old!"

"Though I am weak, yet God, when prayed, Cannot withhold his conquering aid."

"True prayer is only another name for the love of God. Its excellence does not consist in the multitude of our words; for our Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him. The true prayer is that of the heart, and the heart prays only for what it desires. To pray, then, is to desire — but to desire what God would have us desire. He who desires not from the bottom of his heart, offers a deceitful prayer."

"Ejaculations are short prayers darted up to God on emergent occasions. They are the artillery of devotion, and their principal use is against the fiery darts of the devil."

"So a good prayer, though often used, is still fresh and fair in the ears and eyes of Heaven."

"O Lord of Courage grave, O Master of this night of Spring! Make firm in me a heart too brave To ask Thee anything."

"Who goes to bed, and doth not pray, Maketh two nights to every day!"

"Resort to sermons, but to prayers most: Praying's the end of preaching."

"O God, if in the day of battle I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me."

"My brother kneels, so saith Kabir, To stone and brass in heathen-wise, But in my brother's voice I hear My own unanswered agonies. His God is as his fates assign His prayer is all the world's—and mine."

"I ask and wish not to appear More beauteous, rich or gay: Lord, make me wiser every year, And better every day."

"You know I say Just what I think, and nothing more nor less, And, when I pray, my heart is in my prayer. I cannot say one thing and mean another: If I can't pray, I will not make believe!"

"Let one unceasing, earnest prayer Be, too, for light, for strength to bear Our portion of the weight of care, That crushes into dumb despair One half the human race."

"Like one in prayer I stood."

"Vigilate et orate."

"O Domine Deus! speravi in te; O care mi Jesu! nunc libera me. In dura catena, in misera poena, Disidero te. Languendo, jemendo, et genuflectendo, Adoro, imploro, ut liberes me!"