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On the Nature of Prayer
“Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict.” — Paper 91:8.6
“Words are irrelevant to prayer; they are merely the intellectual channel in which the river of spiritual supplication may chance to flow.” — Paper 91:8.12
“Prayer is the sincere and longing look of the child to its spirit Father; it is a psychologic process of exchanging the human will for the divine will.” — Paper 144:2.2
“Prayer is the breath of the soul and should lead you to be persistent in your attempt to ascertain the Father’s will.” — Paper 144:2.3
“Prayer is not an evolution of magic; they each arose independently. Magic was an attempt to adjust Deity to conditions; prayer is the effort to adjust the personality to the will of Deity.” — Paper 91:8.2
On Prayer and Worship
“Worship is the act of a part identifying itself with the Whole; the finite with the Infinite; the son with the Father.” — Paper 143:7.8
“Worship is the highest privilege and the first duty of all created intelligences.” — Paper 27:7.1
“Prayer is self-reminding — sublime thinking; worship is self-forgetting — superthinking.” — Paper 143:7.7
“True worship asks nothing and expects nothing for the worshiper. We do not worship the Father because of anything we may derive from such veneration.” — Paper 5:3.3
“When prayer seeks nothing for the one who prays nor anything for his fellows, then such attitudes of the soul tend to the levels of true worship.” — Paper 91:4.3
On Effective Prayer
“If you would engage in effective praying, you should bear in mind the laws of prevailing petitions.” — Paper 91:9.1
“You must have honestly exhausted the human capacity for human adjustment. You must have been industrious.” — Paper 91:9.3
“Do not be so slothful as to ask God to solve your difficulties, but never hesitate to ask him for wisdom and spiritual strength to guide and sustain you.” — Paper 91:6.5
“Prayer must never be so prostituted as to become a substitute for action. All ethical prayer is a stimulus to action and a guide for the progressive striving toward idealistic goals.” — Paper 91:4.2
“Be not constantly overanxious about your common needs. Do not apprehend concerning the problems of your earthly existence, but in all these things by prayer and supplication, with the spirit of sincere thanksgiving, let your needs be spread out before your Father.” — Paper 146:2.16
On Jesus’ Prayer Life
“Jesus never prayed as a religious duty. To him prayer was a sincere expression of spiritual attitude, a declaration of soul loyalty.” — Paper 196:0.10
“Jesus brought to God, as a man of the realm, the greatest of all offerings: the consecration and dedication of his own will to the majestic service of doing the divine will.” — Paper 196:0.10
“Jesus prayed not to escape tribulation but to strengthen himself for the courage to face all of his manifold trials.” — Paper 144:3.17
“The secret of his unparalleled religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship — unbroken communion with God.” — Paper 196:0.10
“It was the habit of Jesus two out of every three nights to go out alone to commune with the Father in heaven.” — Paper 144:3.13
Related Entities
Universal Father
The divine recipient of all true prayer and worship, the First Source and Center.
Jesus of Nazareth
The Master whose prayer life exemplified perfect communion with the Father.
Spirit of Truth
The spirit presence that guides believers into deeper spiritual communion.