Quotes about Prayer
He who neglects to pray alone and in private, however assiduously he frequents public meetings, there gives his prayers to the wind.
— John Calvin
Prayer unaccompanied by perseverance leads to no result.
— John Calvin
Prayers will never reach God unless they are founded on free mercy.
— John Calvin
Men in prayer give greater license to their unlawful desires than if they were telling jocular tales among their equals.
— John Calvin
We ought to contemplate providence not as curious and fickle persons are wont to do but as a ground of confidence and excitement to prayer. When he informs us that the hairs of our head are all numbered it is not to encourage trivial speculations but to instruct us to depend on the fatherly care of God which is exercised over these frail bodies.
— John Calvin
It is a beastly business when people start eating without prayer, and when they are full, they run out without as much as mentioning God's name.
— John Calvin
First, since by God's command all the saints daily ask for their sins to be forgiven (Matt.6:12), they confess themselves sinners. They do not ask in vain, for the Lord Jesus never bade us ask for something which he would not give us.
— John Calvin
We unlearn the art of speaking well when we cease to speak with God.
— John Calvin
So, too, David, after he has prayed the ways of God be made known to him so that he may walk in his truth, immediately adds, "Unite my heart to fear thy name" [Ps. 86:11; cf. Ps. 119:33]. By these words he means that even well-disposed persons have been subject to so many distractions that they readily vanish or fall away unless they are strengthened to persevere.
— John Calvin
It follows that we pray rightly only when we come to God trusting in the Mediator.
— John Calvin
O, man! learn from the precept what you ought to do; learn from correction, that it is your own fault you have not the power; and learn in prayer, whence it is that you may receive the power.
— John Calvin
In regard to the present question, while it explains what our duty is it teaches that the power of obeying it is derived from the goodness of God, and it accordingly urges us to pray that this power may be given us.
— John Calvin