"God's hearing of our prayers does not depend upon sanctifi- cation, but upon Christ's intercession; not upon what we are in ourselves, but what we are in the Lord Jesus; both our persons and our prayers are accepted in the Beloved."

"When Christ went up into a mountain apart to pray, He dismissed the multitude, to teach us that when we address ourselves to God, we must first dismiss the multitude. We must send away the multitude of worldly cares, worldly thoughts, worldly concerns and business, when we would call upon God in duty."

"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."

"Cold prayers shall never have any warm answers. God will suit His returns to our requests. Lifeless services shall have lifeless answers. When men are dull, God will be dumb."

"The best and sweetest flowers of paradise God gives to His people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is the gate of heaven."

""Continuing instant in prayer." The Greek is a metaphor taken from hunting dogs that never give over the game till they have got their prey."

"Audiit, et voti Phœbus succedere partem Mente didit, partem volucres dispersit in auras."

"Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance, but taking hold upon God's willingness."

"Private prayer is so far from being a hindrance to a man's business, that it is the way of ways to bring down a blessing from heaven upon it."

"J'ai toujours fait une prière à Dieu, qui est fort courte. La voici: Mon Dieu, rendez nos ennemis bien ridicules! Dieu m'a exaucé."

"'Twas then belike," Honorious cried, "When you the public fast defied, Refused to heav'n to raise a prayer, Because you'd no connections there."

"Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer."

"Prayer is The world in tune, A spirit-voyce, And vocall joyes, Whose Eccho is heaven's blisse."

"More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend?"

"Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando."

"The imperfect offices of prayer and praise."

"If any prayer be a duty, then secret prayer must be superlatively so, for it prepares and fits the soul for all other supplication."

"Prayer moves the Hand which moves the world."

"Let faith each meek petition fill, And waft it to the skies; And teach our heart 'tis goodness still That grants it or denies."

"To pray together, in whatever tongue or ritual, is the most tender brotherhood of hope and sympathy that men can contract in this life."

"Holy Father, in thy mercy, Hear our anxious prayer. Keep our loved ones, now far absent, 'Neath Thy care."

"Prayers are heard in heaven very much in proportion to our faith. Little faith will get very great mercies, but great faith still greater."

"Earth bears no balsams for mistakes; Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool That did his will: but thou, O Lord, Be merciful to me, a fool."

"Lord, thy most pointed pleasure take, And stab my spirit broad awake; Or, Lord, if too obdurate I, Choose Thou, before that spirit die, A piercing pain, a killing sin, And to my dead heart turn them in."

"Four things which are not in thy treasury, I lay before thee, Lord, with this petition:— My nothingness, my wants, My sins, and my contrition."

"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."

"I pray the prayer the Easterners do, May the peace of Allah abide with you; Wherever you stay, wherever you go, May the beautiful palms of Allah grow; Through days of labor, and nights of rest, The love of Good Allah make you blest; So I touch my heart—as the Easterners do, May the peace of Allah abide with you."

"In vota miseros ultimus cogit timor."

"At the muezzin's call for prayer, The kneeling faithful thronged the square, And on Pushkara's lofty height The dark priest chanted Brahma's might. Amid a monastery's weeds An old Franciscan told his beads; While to the synagogue there came A Jew to praise Jehovah's name. The one great God looked down and smiled And counted each His loving child; For Turk and Brahmin, monk and Jew Had reached Him through the gods they knew."

"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!"

"In all thou dost first let thy Prayers ascend, And to the Gods thy Labours first commend, From them implore Success, and hope a prosperous End."

"As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see, So deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion Unheard by the world, rises silent to Thee."

"O sad estate Of human wretchedness; so weak is man, So ignorant and blind, that did not God Sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, We should be ruined at our own request."

"Not what we wish, but what we want, Oh! let thy grace supply, The good unask'd, in mercy grant; The ill, though ask'd, deny."

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed, The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breast."

"Now I lay me down to take my sleep, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take."

"Prayer moves the arm Which moves the world, And brings salvation down."

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

"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!"

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

"They were ordinary soldiers, just the common Jean and Hans, One from the valley of the Rhine and one from fair Provence. They were simple-hearted fellows — every night each said his prayer: The one prayed Vater Unser and the other Notre Père."

"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!"

"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."

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

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

"Nulla res carius constat quam quæ precibus empta est."

"My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret and heavy; yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted."