Inspiring Prayer Quotes to Uplift Your Spirit

"Prayer is by nature a dialogue and a union of humanity with God. Its effect is to hold the world together. It achieves a reconciliation with God."

- John Climacus

"Prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."

- St. Therese of Lisieux

"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."

- St. John Damascene

"It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without heart."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God's thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him."

- St. Augustine

"Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of Containing God's gift of himself."

- Mother Theresa

""What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use - men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet.""

- E.M. Bounds

""The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees.""

- E.M. Bounds

""We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""God draws mightily near to the praying soul.""

- E.M. Bounds

""You know the value of prayer: it is precious beyond all price.""

- E.M. Bounds

""The little estimate we put on prayer is evident from the little time we give to it.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Without devotion prayer is an empty form, a vain round of words.""

- E.M. Bounds

""God cannot help hearing the prayer of an obedient child.""

- E.M. Bounds

""To see God, to know God, and to live for God-these form the objective of all true praying.""

- E.M. Bounds

""He who would pray, must obey. He who would get anything out of his prayers, must be in perfect harmony with God.""

- E.M. Bounds

""An obedient life is a great help to prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Four things let us ever keep in mind: God hears prayer, God heeds prayer, God answers prayer, and God delivers by prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""God does not bestow His gifts on the casual of hasty comers and goers. Much with God alone is the secret of knowing Him and of influence with Him.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Prayer is God’s plan to supply man’s great and continuous need with God’s great and continuous abundance.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Life growing in its purity and devotion will be a more prayerful life.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens all prisons, and widens all straits by which God’s saints have been held.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.""

- Max Lucado

""The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God.""

- John Ortberg

""For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.""

- Teresa of Ávila

""True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that – it is a spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.""

- Charles Spurgeon

""The right way to pray is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.""

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

""Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God.""

- Billy Graham

""Prayer lays hold of God’s plan and becomes the link between his will and its accomplishment on earth.""

- Elisabeth Elliot

""Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart.""

- Josh McDowell

""There are parts of our calling, works of the Holy Spirit, and defeats of the darkness that will come no other way than through furious, fervent, faith-filled, unceasing prayer.""

- Beth Moore

""Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.""

- Augustine

""I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.""

- Abraham Lincoln

""Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God’s voice is its most essential part.""

- Andrew Murray

""Any concern too small to be turned into prayer is too small to be made into a burden.""

- Corrie ten Boom

""Begin each day with private reading of the Word and prayer.""

- Jim Elliot

""We don’t drift into spiritual life; we do not drift into disciplined prayer.""

- D.A. Carson

""God is looking for people to use, and if you can get usable, he will wear you out.""

- Rick Warren

""Be not forgetful of prayer. Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage, and you will understand that prayer is an education.""

- Fyodor Dostoevsky

""God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.""

- Oswald Chambers

""A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses.""

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

""We are to pray in times of adversity, lest we become faithless and unbelieving.""

- Billy Graham

""To pray is to change. This is a great grace.""

- Richard Foster

""Prayer does change things, all kinds of things. But the most important thing it changes is us.""

- R.C. Sproul

""The more you pray, the less you’ll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry.""

- Rick Warren

""God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.""

- Charles Wesley

""It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone.""

- Hudson Taylor

""We must talk to God about men before we talk to men about God.""

- Bill Bright

""Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;where there is hatred, let me sow love;when there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;and where there is sadness, joy.""

- Francis of Assisi

""Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.""

- Thomas Aquinas

""Lord, teach me to be generous;Teach me to serve you as you deserve;To give and not to count the cost;To fight and not to heed the wounds;To toil, and not to seek for rest;To labor, and not to ask for reward –except to know that I am doing your will.""

- Ignatius of Loyola

""God, teach me to be patient, teach me to go slow,Teach me how to wait on You when my way I do not know.""

- Helen Steiner Rice

""Give me the Love that leads the wayThe Faith that nothing can dismayThe Hope no disappointments tireThe Passion that’ll burn like fire.""

- Amy Carmichael

""Lord, when I feel that what I’m doing is insignificant and unimportant, help me to remember that everything I do is significant and important in your eyes.""

- Brennan Manning

""The single most important piece of advice about prayer is one word: Begin!""

- Peter Kreeft

"Prayer is the song of the heart. It reaches the ear of God even if it is mingled with the cry and tumult of a thousand men."

- Kahlil Gibran

".....a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer."

- Catechism of the Catholic Church

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you."

- St. Augustine

"Pray as you can, not as you can't."

- Dom Chapman

"Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself."

- St. John Vianney

"The whole reason why we pray is to be united into the vision and contemplation of God to whom we pray."

- Julian of Norwich

"I believe that it is impossible to grasp all the different forms of prayer without great purity of heart and soul. There are as many forms of prayer as there are states of soul. A person pays in a certain manner when cheerful and in another when weighed down by sadness or a sense of hopelessness. When one is flourishing spiritually, prayer is different from when one is oppressed by the extent of one's struggles."

- John Cassian

"Therefore, when you decide to undertake this work of prayer and feel by grace that you are called by God, lift up your heart to God with a meek stirring of Love."

- Cloud of Unknowing

"If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'thank you' that would suffice."

- Meister Eckhart

"Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God."

- Teresa of Avila

"A generous prayer is never presented in vain; the petition may be refused, but the petitioner is always, I believe, rewarded by some gracious visitation."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

"The wish to pray is a prayer in itself."

- Georges Bernanos

"Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Prayer is not an old woman's amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Any concern too small to be turned into prayer is too small to be made into a burden."

- Corrie Ten Bloom

"And so I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life, a little like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. For now, do not worry about 'proper' praying, just talk to God."

- Richard J. Foster

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines."

- Satchel Paige

"Prayer, then, is a matter of our participating in the life of Jesus Christ."

- Michael Casey

"The value of persistent prayer is not that God will hear us, but that we will finally hear God."

- William McGill

"Work as if everything depends on you. Pray as if everything depends on God."

- St. Ignatius Loyola

"Give me faith, Lord, and let me help others find it."

- Leo Tolstoy

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

- Matthew 5:44

"True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that. It is a spiritual transaction with the creator of Heaven and Earth."

- Charles Spurgeon

"A beginner must look on himself as one setting out to make a garden for his Lord's pleasure, on most unfruitful soil which abounds in weeds. His majesty roots up the weeds and will put in good plants instead. Let us reckon that this is already done when the soul decides to practice prayer and has begun to do so."

- Saint Teresa of Avila

"There is variation in our prayer because we look toward God from different vantage points. Our situation changes; we develop and are subjected to a range of external factors. Our situation can also change because we deliberately choose to seek further into the mystery of God."

- Michael Casey

"Never underestimate the power of prayer! Constant prayer, with full conviction, without loss of hope, really does create miracles."

- Ritu Ghatourey

"I do believe we’re all connected. I do believe in positive energy. I do believe in the power of prayer. I do believe in putting good out into the world. And I believe in taking care of each other."

- Harvey Fierstein

"Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at his disposition, and listening to his voice in the depth of our hearts."

- Mother Teresa

"Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"God, our creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers."

- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

"Prayer does not change God, but it changes the people who pray."

- Søren Kierkegaard

"Prayer changes us. If we are diligent in seeking God, slowly and surely we become better people."

- Joyce Meyer

"In my deepest, darkest moments, what really got me through was a prayer. Sometimes my prayer was ‘Help me.’ Sometimes a prayer was ‘Thank you.’ What I’ve discovered is that intimate connection and communication with my creator will always get me through because I know my support, my help, is just a prayer away."

- Iyanla Vanzant

"Prayer is an opportunity to have a conversation with God to try to get in tune with what his will is."

- Dr. Francis Collins

"Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as he is with the attitude of your heart."

- Josh McDowell

"True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection. Prayer is the utilization of the love that God gives to us."

- Mary Baker Eddy

"I believe that prayer is our powerful contact with the greatest force in the universe."

- Loretta Young

"Pray without ceasing"

- Thessalonians 5:17

"I feel the presence of a higher power. I believe that what you give is what you get. It’s universal law. I believe in the power of prayer."

- Alicia Keys

"Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God."

- Billy Graham

"Prayer is something exalted, supernatural, which dilates the soul and unites it to God."

- Therese of Lisieux

"Prayer is the key that opens the heart of God."

- Padre Pio

"Prayer brings our mind into the brightness of divine light, and exposes our will to the warmth of divine light, and exposes our will to the warmth of divine love. Nothing else can so purge our mind from its ignorance."

- Francis de Sales

"The cure for worry is prayer."

- William James

"Just as you wouldn’t leave the house without taking a shower, you shouldn’t start the day without at least 10 minutes of sacred practice: prayer, meditation, inspirational reading."

- Marianne Williamson

"Mindfulness of God, or noetic prayer, is superior to all other activities. Indeed, being love for God, it is the chief virtue."

- Gregory of Sinai

"There are times in life when the soul finds comfort only in profound prayer. Would that souls knew how to persevere in prayer at such times. This is very important."

- Faustina Kowalska

"When you recognize the festive and the still moments as moments of prayer, then you gradually realize that to pray is to live."

- Henri Nouwen

"Prayer is more than meditation. In meditation the source of strength is one’s self. When one prays he goes to a source of strength greater than his own."

- Chiang Kai-shek

"Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; people can’t live in health without them."

- Mahalia Jackson

"Exercise, prayer, and meditation are examples of calming rituals. They have been shown to induce a happier mood and provide a positive pathway through life’s daily frustrations."

- Chuck Norris

"We always have need of God. Therefore, we must always pray. The more we pray, the more we please him and the more we obtain."

- Claude de la Colombiere

"Unceasing prayer means to have the mind always turned to God with great love, holding alive our hope in him, having confidence in him whatever we’re doing and whatever happens to us."

- Maximus the Confessor

"My longing for truth was a single prayer."

- Edith Stein

"I would advise those who practice prayer, especially at first, to cultivate the friendship and company of others who are working in the same way. This is a most important things, because we can help one another by our prayers, and all the more so because it may bring us even greater benefits."

- Teresa of Avila

"Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Prayer is where the action is."

- John Wesley

"Prayer is a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with him."

- Elizabeth Ann Seton

""Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers.""

- J. Sidlow Baxter

""There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him.""

- William Law

""A servant of the Lord stands bodily before men, but mentally he is knocking at the gates of heaven with prayer.""

- John Climacus

""Rich is the person who has a praying friend.""

- Janice Hughes

""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

""Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude—an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God.""

- Arthur W. Pink

""There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.""

- Brother Lawrence

""Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.""

- Oswald Chambers

""Private place and plenty of time are the life of prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Prayer is the language of a man burdened with a sense of need.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honors God and brings him into active aid.""

- E.M. Bounds

""The story of every great Christian achievement is the history of answered prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Trust receives what prayer acquires. So, what prayer needs, at all times, is abiding and abundant trust.""

- E.M. Bounds

""To be too busy with God’s work to commune with God is the highway to backsliding.""

- E.M. Bounds

""The goal of prayer is the ear of God.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Jesus taught that perseverance is the essential element in prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Heaven is too busy to listen to half-hearted prayers or to respond to pop-calls.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Holy living is essential preparation for prayer.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.""

- E.M. Bounds

""Prayer succeeds when all else fails.""

- E.M. Bounds

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."

- Martin Luther

"Prayer is simply talking to God like a friend and should be the easiest thing we do each day."

- Joyce Meyer

"Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays."

- Kierkegaard

"To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees."

- Billy Graham

"True prayer is a way of life, not just for use in cases of emergency. Make it a habit, and when the need arises you will be in practice."

- Billy Graham

"She (my mother) became a warrior far superior to any epic hero. She became a giant on her knees. With a sword in one hand she battled the enemies of death and disease, and with her other hand stretched toward heaven she kept beseeching God’s help and His mercy."

- Bishop T.D. Jakes

"Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between his will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer."

- Elisabeth Elliot

"There are parts of our calling, works of the Holy Spirit, and defeats of the darkness that will come no other way than through furious, fervent, faith-filled, unceasing prayer."

- Beth Moore

"The reality is, my prayers don't change God. But, I am convinced prayer changes me. Praying boldly boots me out of that stale place of religious habit into authentic connection with God Himself."

- Lysa TerKeurst

"If you believe in prayer at all, expect God to hear you. If you do not expect, you will not have. God will not hear you unless you believe He will hear you; but if you believe He will, He will be as good as your faith."

- Charles Spurgeon

"You cannot pray for someone and hate them at the same time."

- Billy Graham

"I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."

- Martin Luther

"The prayer offered to God in the morning during your quiet time is the key that unlocks the door of the day. Any athlete knows that it is the start that ensures a good finish."

- Adrian Rogers

"Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."

- Psalm 5:3

"The day is done; I give thanks to God for the gifts of today and place tomorrow in His hands."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

"At the end of the day, I rest in the peace that comes from knowing You, Lord. Guide me as I sleep, and renew my strength for tomorrow."

- Charles Spurgeon

"When I go to bed, I ask the Lord to give me a peaceful night and to enable me to rise in the morning with a thankful heart."

- John Wesley

"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety."

- Psalm 4:8

"The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'"

- Billy Graham

"God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer."

- Mother Teresa

"True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that - it is spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth."

- Charles Spurgeon

"I firmly believe God continues to answer the prayers of His people even after He has taken them to heaven. Never forget that God isn’t bound by time the way we are. We see only the present moment; God sees everything. We see only part of what He is doing; He sees it all."

- Billy Graham

"We are to pray in times of adversity, lest we become faithless and unbelieving. We are to pray in times of prosperity, lest we become boastful and proud. We are to pray in times of danger, lest we become fearful and doubting. We are to pray in times of security, lest we become self-sufficient."

- Billy Graham

"Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural."

- Oswald Chambers

"In the morning, prayer is the key that opens to us the treasures of God's mercies and blessings; in the evening, it is the key that shuts us up under his protection and safeguard."

- Billy Graham

"God is looking for people to use, and if you can get usable, he will wear you out. The most dangerous prayer you can pray is this: 'Use me.'"

- Rick Warren

"Rather than set aside daily time for prayer, I pray constantly and spontaneously about everything I encounter on a daily basis. When someone shares something with me, I'll often simply say, 'let's pray about this right now.'"

- Thomas Kinkade

"Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night."

- George Herbert

"Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden."

- Corrie ten Boom

"If we would turn the time we spent discussing the other's life into prayer time instead, no telling what would happen to the glory of God."

- Beth Moore

"Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts."

- Mother Teresa

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."

- Abraham Lincoln

"God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil."

- Mother Teresa

"Prayer makes a godly man, and puts within him the mind of Christ, the mind of humility, of self-surrender, of service, of pity, and of prayer. If we really pray, we will become more like God, or else we will quit praying."

- E.M. Bounds

"Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty."

- E.M. Bounds

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."

- 1 John 5:14

"And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

- 1 John 5:15

"Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive."

- 2 Chronicles 6:21

"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."

- John 17:15

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

- Jesus

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

- Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

- Philippians 4:6

"Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference."

- Max Lucado

"I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right; but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation may be on the Lord's side."

- Abraham Lincoln

"If your day is hemmed in with prayer, it is less likely to come unraveled."

- Cynthia Lewis

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"

- Corrie ten Boom

"Let no one profess to trust in God, and yet lay up for future wants, otherwise the Lord will first send him to the hoard he has amassed, before He can answer the prayer for more."

- George Müller

"It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk."

- Henry Ward Beecher

"Do not make prayer a monologue...make it a conversation."