Quotes on Prayer
“In a word, Christian, rely upon thy God, and make thy daily applications to the throne of grace for continual supplies of strength; you little think how kindly he takes it, that you will make use of him, the oftener the better, and the more you come for, the more welcome… Such a bountiful heart thy God hath, while thou art asking a little peace and joy, he bids thee open thy mouth wide and he will fill it.” ~William Gurnall - The Christian In Complete Armour, Vol I, Part 1
To pray in faith is to ask of God, in the name of Christ, what he has promised, relying on his power and truth for performance… This reliance of the soul…fastens on God like the anchor’s double hook. It takes hold of the power of God…and the faithfulness of God to perform the promise.
–William Gurnall, “Christian in Complete Armour”
Job 22:21 “Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; Thereby good will come to you. 22 Receive, please, instruction from His mouth, And lay up His words in your heart. 23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; You will remove iniquity far from your tents. 24 Then you will lay your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. 25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold And your precious silver; 26 For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God. 27 You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, And you will pay your vows. 28 You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways. NKJV
“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees.” William Cowper
“As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.” Martin Luther
“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.” ~ Martin Luther.
“I never prayed sincerely and earnestly for anything but it came at some time; no matter at how distant a day, somehow, in some shape, probably the least I would have devised, it came.” Adoniram Judson
Good prayers never come weeping home. I am sure I shall receive, either what I ask or what I should ask. JOSEPH HALL
God never denied that soul anything that went as far as heaven to ask it. JOHN TRAPP
To an effectual prayer there must concur the intention of the mind and the affections of the heart; else it is not praying but parroting ~ JOHN TRAPP
God may deny your wantonness, but not your wants. JOHN FLAVEL
“It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly, continue in prayer until we obtain an answer; George Müller
When asked how much time he spent in prayer, George Muller’s reply was, “Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming.”
The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer fetched the angel. ~ THOMAS WATSON
“The battle of prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts, and lack of intimacy with God’s character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at once, but they can be cured by discipline.” Oswald Chambers
God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede. — Oswald Chambers
“Prayer is my chief work, and it is by means of it that I carry on the rest.” ~ Thomas Hooker, Puritan
“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” Charles Spurgeon
“If you want that splendid power in prayer, you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ.” C. H. Spurgeon
“…[the] power of prayer can never be overrated. They who cannot serve God by preaching need not regret. If a man can but pray he can do anything. He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has Heaven and earth at his disposal.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“Whole days and weeks have I spent prostrate on the ground in silent or vocal prayer.” George Whitefield
“Prayer is the acid test of devotion.” Samuel Chadwick
“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” Oswald Chambers
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” ~ John Bunyon
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. - John Bunyan
Pray often; for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan. JOHN BUNYAN
“He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.” William Law
God looks not at the elegancy of your prayers, to see how neat they are; nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are; or yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are; nor yet at the music of your prayers, nor yet at the sweetness of your voice, nor yet at the logic of your prayers; but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are. There is no prayer acknowledged, approved, accepted, recorded or rewarded by God, but that wherein the heart is sincerely and wholly. The true mother would not have her child divided. God loves a broken and a contrite heart, so He loathes a divided heart. ~ Thomas Brooks
“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” ~ Robert Murray McCheyne
“There is no power like that of prevailing prayer, of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is the cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.” Samuel Chadwick
Israel prevailed with God in wrestling with Him, and therefore it is that he prevails with men also. If so be that we will wrestle with God for a blessing, and prevail with Him, then we need not to fear but we shall wrestle the enemies out of it also. ~ ALEXANDER HENDERSON
The true spirit of prayer is no other than God’s own Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints. And as this spirit comes from God, so doth it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and pantings. It naturally leads to God, to converse with him by prayer. ~ Jonathan Edwards
That which begins not with prayer, seldom winds up with comfort. JOHN FLAVEL
There must be delight on our parts. Joy is the tuning the soul. The command to rejoice precedes the command to pray: “Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing.” Delight makes the melody; prayer else will be but a harsh sound. STEPHEN CHARNOCK
Lord what a change within us one short hour spent in Thy presence will prevail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take, what parched grounds refresh as with a shower!
We kneel, and all around us seems to lower; we rise and all the distant and the near, stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear; we kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power!
Why therefore should we do ourselves this wrong; or others,
that we are not always strong, that we are ever overborne with care, that we should ever weak or heartless be, anxious or troubled,
when with us is prayer, and joy and strength and courage are with Thee! ~ Archbishop Chenevix Trench
Do not any day, upon any pretence, omit to offer up thy morning and evening sacrifices. Remember, so often as thou neglectest morning prayer, so often thou art all the day naked destitute of thy spiritual guard, and exposed to all manner of evils and enemies, and cost forespeak thyself an evil day; and so often as thou omittest evening prayer thou presumest upon sleep, and rest, and safety, without God’s leave, and forespeakest thyself an evil night. GEORGE SWINNOCK
There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him. –William Law
I have been benefited by praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them I have gotten something for myself. SAMUEL RUTHERFORD
“Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.” ~ John Calvin
There is a wonderful prevalency in the joint prayers of His people. When Peter was in prison, the church met and prayed him out of his enemies’ hands. A prince will grant a petition subscribed by the hands of a whole city, which, may be, he would not at the request of a private subject, and yet love him well too. There is an especial promise to public prayer: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” WILLIAM GURNALL
Pray in prosperity, that thou mayest speed when thou prayest in adversity; own God now, that He may acknowledge thee then. Shall that friend be welcome to us, that never gives us a visit, but when he comes to borrow? This is a right beggar’s trick, but not a friend’s part. WILLIAM GURNALL
We must join our endeavor in the use of all means with our prayers, whether they be put up for spiritual or temporal blessings. . . . We must pray with our hand at the pump, or the ship will sink in sight of our prayers. Is it temporal subsistence thou prayest for? Pray and work, or pray and starve. Dost thou think to set God at work, while thou sittest with thy hand in thy bosom? WILLIAM GURNALL
Furnish thyself with arguments from the promises to enforce thy prayers, and make them prevalent with God. The promises are the ground of faith, and faith, when strengthened, will make thee fervent. and such fervency ever speeds and returns with victory out of the field of prayer. . . . The mightier any is in the Word, the more mighty he will be in prayer. WILLIAM GURNALL
Praying is the same to the new creature as crying is to the natural. The child is not learned by art or example to cry, but instructed by nature; it comes into the world crying. Praying is not a lesson got by forms and rules of art, but flowing from principles of new life itself. WILLIAM GURNALL
Take heed of carrying purposes of going on in sin with thee to the throne of grace! This were a horrible wickedness indeed. . . . Is it not enough to sin, but wouldst thou make God accessory to His own dishonor also? WILLIAM GURNALL
Observe whether thy fervency in prayer be uniform; a false heart may seem very hot in praying against one sin, but he can skip over another, and either leave it out of his confession, or handle it very gently, as a partial witness, that would fain save the prisoner’s life he comes against, will not speak all he knows, but minceth his evidence; thus does the hypocrite deal with his darling lust. WILLIAM GURNALL
When people do not mind what God speaks to them in His word, God does as little mind what they say to Him in prayer. WILLIAM GURNALL
He hath engaged to answer the prayers of His people, and “fulfill the desires of those that fear Him.” But it proves a long voyage sometimes before the praying saint hath the return of his adventure. There comes oft a long and sharp winter between the sowing–time of prayer, and the reaping. He hears us indeed as soon as we pray, but we oh do not hear of Him so soon. Prayers are not long in their journey to heaven, but long a coming thence in a full answer. WILLIAM GURNALL
A saint is to put forth his faith in prayer, and afterwards follow his prayer with faith. VAVASOR POWELL
Ah! How often, Christians, hath God kissed you at the beginning of prayer, and spoken peace to you in the midst of prayer, and filled you with joy and assurance upon the close of prayer! THOMAS BROOKS
God looks not at the elegancy of your prayers, to see how neat they are; nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are; nor yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are; nor yet at the music of your prayers, nor yet at the sweetness of your voice, nor yet at the logic of your prayers; but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are. There is no prayer acknowledged, approved, accepted, recorded, or rewarded by God, but that wherein the heart is sincerely and wholly. The true mother would not have the child divided. God loves a broken and a contrite heart, so He loathes a divided heart. God neither loves halting nor halving. ~ THOMAS BROOKS
One way to get comfort is to plead the promise of God in prayer, show Him His handwriting; God is tender of His Word. THOMAS MANTON
The speech of the mouth must not go before, but always follow after the conception of the mind. Many times as a musician’s fingers will run over a song which he has been used to play, although his mind is otherwise occupied; so many in prayer will run over that form of words they have been used to utter, though their minds are roving about other matters. Oh, let the absurdity of the fault breed in us a loathing of it. ~ ISAAC AMBROSE
Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. NKJV
Wisdom for Daily Living Quotes
Quotes of Jesus and His Disciples
