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It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.

It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.

If we really want to achieve true prayer, we must turn our backs upon everything temporal, everything external, everything that is not divine.

God answers prayers, but he doesn't always answer it your way.

Prayer is not a substitute for work. First we have to do all we can ourselves to understand a situation. Then when we ask for help, sometimes it is very evident, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes we may well be helped by not getting a decision.

For me, in my Christian belief, prayer is not an opportunity to manipulate God into doing what you want him to. Prayer is an opportunity to have a conversation with God to try to get in tune with what his will is.

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.

Prayer is aligning ourselves with the purposes of God.

God does say He will graciously entertain our prayers. He says that if we exercise faith, and if our request is in accordance with His will, He will hear us.