God punishes us mildly by ignoring our prayers and severely by answering them. ~Richard J. Needham

When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing - nothing. ~Saint Francis of Assisi

"Give us this day our daily bread" is probably the most perfectly constructed and useful sentence ever set down in the English language. ~P.J. Wingate

Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. ~Søren Kierkegaard

No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it. ~Guy H. King

Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble. ~Philip Melanchthen

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. ~Satchel Paige, 1974

The value of consistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will hear Him. ~William McGill

Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things. ~Samuel M. Shoemaker

Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer. ~Author Unknown

Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish. ~Author Unknown

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. ~Frederick Douglass, escaped slave

Practical prayer is harder on the soles of your shoes than on the knees of your trousers. ~Austin O'Malley

As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in schools. ~Author Unknown

When we talk to God, we're praying. When God talks to us, we're schizophrenic. ~Jane Wagner, In Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, 1985, performed by Lily Tomlin

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. ~Oswald Chambers

When at night you cannot sleep, talk to the Shepherd and stop counting sheep. ~Author Unknown

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. ~Oswald Chambers

Many people pray as if God were a big aspirin pill; they come only when they hurt. ~B. Graham Dienert

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. ~Author Unknown

Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude. ~Walter A. Mueller

The Lord's Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learnt by heart. ~Frederick Denison Maurice

Deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it. You can't pray a lie - I found that out. ~Mark Twain

Prayers not felt by us are seldom heard by God. ~Philip Henry

When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart. ~John Bunyan

And help us, this and every day, to live more nearly as we pray. ~John Keble

Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence. ~Oscar Wilde

It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees. ~Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, 1862

It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay them in our practice. ~Matthew Henry

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. ~Abraham Lincoln

God can pick sense out of a confused prayer. ~Richard Sibbes

Pray, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911

I often pray, though I'm not really sure Anyone's listening; and I phrase it carefully, just in case He's literary. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Complete Neurotic's Notebook

Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself. ~William Inge

If we could all hear one another's prayers, God might be relieved of some of his burdens. ~Ashleigh Brilliant

Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue. ~Adam Clarke

God always answers our prayers, but sometimes the answer is no. ~Author Unknown

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. ~Mother Teresa

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." ~O. Hallesby

What men usually ask of God when they pray is that two and two not make four. ~Author Unknown

Most people do not pray; they only beg. ~George Bernard Shaw

Prayer draws us near to our own souls. ~Herman Melville, Mardi and A Voyage Thither, 1849

What we usually pray to God is not that His will be done, but that He approve ours. ~Helga Bergold Gross

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. ~Margaret Gibb

We cannot ask in behalf of Christ what Christ would not ask Himself if He were praying. ~A.B. Simpson

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us. ~Socrates

Just pray for a tough hide and a tender heart. ~Ruth Graham

God tells us to burden him with whatever burdens us. ~Author Unknown

You know I ain't never prayed before
'Cause it always seemed to me
That prayin's the same as beggin' Lord,
I don't take no charity.
~Steve Earle, "Tom Ames' Prayer," 1994

Before we can pray, "Lord, Thy Kingdom come," we must be willing to pray, "My Kingdom go." ~Alan Redpath

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. ~Gerald Vann

Who rises from prayer a better man, his prayer is answered. ~George Meredith

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. ~Stephen Crotts

Be thankful that God's answers are wiser than your answers. ~William Culbertson

Prayer is the language of a man burdened with a sense of need. ~E.M. Bounds

Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God. ~Edwin Keith

Prayer is the spirit speaking truth to Truth. ~Philip James Bailey

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. ~Corrie ten Boom

Call on God, but row away from the rocks. ~Indian Proverb