My hope is that these quotes inspire you and reignite your prayer life. My hope is that we would go before the Lord daily and learn to spend time in His presence.
What is prayer?
The simple answer to this question is that prayer is a conversation with God. Prayer is the way that Christians communicate with the Lord. We should be praying daily to invite God into every facet of our life. Prayer is a means to praise the Lord, enjoy and experience Him, offer to God petitions, seek His wisdom, and a way to allow God to direct our every step.
1. “Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God.” Billy Graham
2. “Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy.” — John Piper
3. “Prayer is both conversation and encounter with God. . . . We must know the awe of praising his glory, the intimacy of finding his grace, and the struggle of asking his help, all of which can lead us to know the spiritual reality of his presence.” Tim Keller
4. “Prayer is the key and faith unlocks the door.”
5. “To pray is to let go and let God take over.”
6. “Prayer is like waking up from a nightmare to reality. We laugh at what we took so seriously inside the dream. We realize that all is truly well. Of course, prayer can have the opposite effect; it can puncture illusions and show us we are in more spiritual danger than we thought.” Tim Keller
7. “Prayer is the vehicle by which we reach God.” — Greg Laurie
8. “Prayer is climbing up into the heart of God.” Martin Luther
9. “I believe in prayer. It’s the best way we have to draw strength from heaven.”
10. “Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly christian weapon.” – Martin Luther.
11. “Prayers are the stairs we must climb every day, if we want to reach God there is no other way. For we learn to know God when we meet Him in prayer, and ask Him to lighten our burden of care. So start in the morning climb those stairs steep, climb ever upward til you close your eyes in sleep. For prayers are truly the stairs that lead to the Lord, and to meet Him in prayer is the climbers reward.”
12. “Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is to life.” Johnathon Edwards
The soul longs for prayer
In every soul there is a yearning to be satisfied. There is a desire that needs to be met. There is a thirst that needs to be quenched. We search for fulfillment in other places, but we’re left destitute.
However, In Christ we find the satisfaction that are soul has been craving. Jesus gives us life in abundance. This is why one touch of His presence changes our perspective on everything and it causes us to relentlessly cry out for more of Him.
13. “It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without heart.”
14. “Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.” Charles Spurgeon
15. “Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them.”
16. “Prayer is the breath of life to our soul; holiness is impossible without it.”
17. “Prayer feeds the soul – as blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul – and it brings you closer to God.”
18. “Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God and a scourge for Satan”
19. “Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire.”
20. “Prayer is the cure for a confused mind, a weary soul, and a broken heart.”
21. “Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.”
22. “Prayer is the natural outgushing of a soul in communion with Jesus.” Charles Spurgeon
Prayer moves the hand of God
God has beautifully ordained our prayers to cause things to happen. He has invited us into the wonderful privilege of offering petitions to Him to accomplish His will and move His hand. Knowing that our prayers are used by the Lord should compel us to cultivate a lifestyle of prayer and worship.
23. “Prayer is designed by God to display his fullness and our need. It glorifies God because it puts us in the position of the thirsty and God in the position of the all-supplying fountain.” John Piper
24. “Prayer is the answer to every problem there is.” — Oswald Chambers
25. “God’s help is only a prayer away.”
26. “Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. It is also the main way we experience deep change—the reordering of our loves. Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life.” Tim Keller
27. “Whenever God determines to do a great work, He first sets His people to pray.” Charles H. Spurgeon
28. “We cannot know what prayer is for until we know that life is a war.” John Piper
29. “Sometimes prayer moves the hand of God, and sometimes prayer changes the heart of the person who is praying.”
30. “Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God.”
What does the Bible say about prayer?
Scripture has various different things to say about prayer. The Bible teaches us that there are many forms of prayer and that all prayer is to be offered in faith. Our God is not a god who dreads hearing our prayers. The Bible reminds us that God desires and encourages us to commune with Him continuously. Prayer is used to build a believer’s relationship with the Lord. Not only does He desire to answer prayers according to His will, but He desires for us to know Him.
31. Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
32. Luke 11:1 “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
33. Psalm 73:28 “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all thy works.”
34. 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
35. Luke 11:9 “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
36. Psalm 34:15: “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.”
37. 1 John 5:14–15 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
What is true prayer?
If we’re honest with ourselves, a lot of our prayers are not genuine. It’s not about the length of our prayers or the eloquence of our prayers. It’s about the heart of our prayers. God searches our heart and He knows when our prayers are genuine. He also knows when we are mindlessly just saying words. God desires an intimate relationship with us. He is not impressed with empty words. Genuine prayer changes our life and it enhances our desire to pray. Let’s examine ourselves, are we motivated to pray by duty or are we motivated by a burning desire to be with the Lord? This is something that we all struggle with. Let’s remove things that may be hindering us. Let’s get alone with the Lord and cry out for a transformed heart that longs for Him.
38. “True prayer is a way of life, not just in case of emergency.” Billy Graham
39. “True prayer is measured by weight not by length.”
40. “Effective prayer is prayer that attains what it seeks. It is prayer that moves God, effecting its end.” — Charles Grandison Finney
41. “True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is a spiritual commerce with the Creator of heaven and earth.” — Charles H. Spurgeon
42. “True prayer is a spontaneous outpouring of honesty and need from the soul’s foundation. In calm times, we say a prayer. In desperate times, we truly pray. – David Jeremiah
43. “True prayer, not just mindless, halfhearted petitions, it is what digs the well God wants to fill with faith.”
44. “A true prayer is an inventory of needs, a catalog of necessities, an exposure of secret wounds, a revelation of hidden poverty.” – C. H. Spurgeon.
What does prayer reveal?
Our prayer life reveals a lot about us and our walk with Christ. The things that we pray for reveal our desires. A lack of a prayer life may indicate a heart that has lost its first love. Praising the Lord daily may reveal a joyful heart. What does your prayer life reveal about you?
45. “Prayer as a relationship is probably your best indicator about the health of your love relationship with God. If your prayer life has been slack, your love relationship has grown cold.” — John Piper
46. “Prayer reveals to souls the vanity of earthly goods and pleasures. It fills them with light, strength and consolation; and gives them a foretaste of the calm bliss of our heavenly home.”
47. “Praise in prayer reveals our mindset about whether God is listening” – Pastor Ben Walls Sr
48. “Prayer reveals what’s important to you.”
49. “Your prayer life is a reflection of your relationship with God.”
50. “The granting of prayer, when offered in the name of Jesus, reveals the Father’s love to him, and the honor which he has put upon him.” — Charles H. Spurgeon
Prayer is not
There are a lot of misconceptions about prayer. For example, prayer is not manipulating God. Prayer is not about talking over God, but having a back and forth conversation. To pray is not to wish, nor is prayer magic because power does not lie in and of ourselves. These quotes are all about what prayer is not.
51. “Prayer is not a preparation for work, it is work. Prayer is not a preparation for the battle, it is the battle. Prayer is two-fold: definite asking and definite waiting to receive.” — Oswald Chambers
52. “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.”
53. “Prayer is not trying to twist God’s arm to make Him do something. Prayer is receiving by faith what He has already done!” — Andrew Wommack
54. “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.” Martin Luther
55. “Prayer is not the answer. God is the answer.”
Quotes about the Lord’s Prayer
Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, not as a magic formula to get prayers answered, but as a pattern of how Christians should pray. As mentioned in the section above, prayer is not about our words. Prayer is about the heart behind our words.
56. Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
57. “The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that God longs for His people to communicate with Him, not just in church on Sunday, but wherever we are and whatever our need.” — David Jeremiah
58. “The Lord’s Prayer contains the sum total of religion and morals.”
59. “The Lord’s Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learnt by heart.” – Frederick Denison Maurice
60. “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.”
