(137 quotes)
I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers to God make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those effects down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.
Peter Kreeft
You will never have time for prayer; you must make time.
Richard Foster
The family that prays together stays together.
Father Patrick Peyton
Pray as you can, not as you can’t.
God answers every prayer… and sometimes He says “No” or “Wait”.
If you experience dryness in prayer or a time when you come to Mass and feel like you didn’t get anything out of it, then that’s a good day… That’s a day where you get to choose to love God for His sake and not for what He can do for you.
Father Mike Schmitz
Fasting allows the soul to fly.
An hour of study, for the modern apostle, is an hour of prayer.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
You don’t know how to pray? Put yourself in the presence of God, and as soon as you have said, “Lord, I don’t know how to pray!” you can be sure you’ve already begun.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
Prayer is a relationship, and relationships require an awful lot of work.
All my sermons are prepared in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament… The most brilliant ideas come from meeting God face to face… Pope John Paul II keeps a small desk or writing pad near him whenever he is in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament; and I have done this all my life — I am sure for the same reason he does, because a lover always works better when the beloved is with him.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Fasting is the greatest feast.
Brady Solomon
God doesn’t need our praise. He enjoys our praise.
Benedictine monk from the movie Into Great Silence
Silence is God’s first language.
Saint John of the Cross
Always pray before you hit the hay.
Auggie Moore
My TV is the tabernacle.
Blessed Mother Teresa
Less e-mail. More knee-mail.
Anything big enough to occupy our minds is big enough to hang a prayer on.
George MacDonald
The Rosary is the book of the blind.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
It is better to say one Our Father fervently and devoutly than a thousand with no devotion and full of distraction.
Saint Edmund
Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness. Listen to God. Adore Him in the Eucharist.
Pope Benedict XVI
When I pray I don’t always get what I want, but I get what I need.
In vocal prayer we go to God on foot. In meditation we go to God on horseback. In contemplation we go to God in a jet.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
When in doubt, whip a Rosary out!
Walter Duff
Most of our problems come from not being able to sit quietly in a room with ourselves.
Saint Pascal
If you’re going to pray, then don’t worry. If you’re going to worry, then don’t pray.
Pray, hope, and don’t worry.
Saint Padre Pio
When you say to God, “Our Father”, He has His ear right next to your lips.
Saint André Bessette
God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.
Blessed Mother Teresa
If you pray more you will pray better.
Blessed Mother Teresa
The Hail Mary will take us to Heaven.
Saint Jeanne Jugan
Jesus is waiting for you in the chapel. Go and find Him.
Saint Jeanne Jugan
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
Saint Augustine
To clasp the hands in prayer is a beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.
Karl Barth
True prayer is asking God what He wants.
William Barclay
Were you to ask what are the means of overcoming temptations, I would answer: The first means is prayer; the second is prayer; the third is prayer; and you should you ask me a thousand times, I would repeat the same.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Say the Holy Rosary. Blessed be the monotony of Hail Marys which purifies the monotony of your sins!
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
When night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him. Then you will be able to rest in Him – really rest – and start the next day as a new life.
Edith Stein, also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Carry the rosary with you everywhere, and it will carry you through anything.
Jason Evert
Every one of us needs a half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy – then we need an hour.
Saint Francis de Sales
Prayer is the best home security.
Walter Duff
You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the play and the opera, and grace before the concert and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing; And grace before I dip the pen in the ink.
G.K. Chesterton
If you only pray when you’re in trouble then you’re in trouble.
Have you prayed about it as much as you’ve talked about it?
What does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a clear stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.
Saint Francis of Assisi
You always leave the Rosary for later, and you end up not saying it at all because you are sleepy. If there is no other time, say it in the street without letting anybody notice it. It will, moreover, help you to have presence of God.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
Lord, may I do much while appearing to do nothing at all.
You have prayed for patience, and I have multiplied the opportunities in which you could be patient.
God (speaking to Saint Philip Neri)
We must empty purgatory with our prayers.
Saint Padre Pio
When life knocks you on your knees, you’re in the perfect position to pray.
Close your eyes when praying so you will be able to see better.
Father Dwight Longenecker
Mary prays for us at the two most important moments of our lives: Now and at the hour of our death.
Father Kyle Schnippel
Silence is a great magnifier.
Father Mike Schmitz
Novice: “How long do you pray?”
Old monk: “Two minutes. But it takes me twenty minutes to get there.”
Father Dwight Longenecker
Why do we fast from good things during Advent and Lent? Because I need to realize that if I don’t have these things in my life I’ll still be fine.
Father Mike Schmitz
What kind of power does a man have on his knees?
A sinning man will stop praying. A praying man will stop sinning.
The only place you should put people down is on your prayer list.
I learned how to stand while on my knees.
Little Flower, in this hour, show thy power!
Sitting and silently doing nothing can do so much.
Turn your car into a monastery.
Father Robert Barron
Seek a relationship when you pray, not answers. You won’t always find answers, but you will always find Jesus.
Father Mike Schmitz
The first rule for prayer, the most important first step, is not about how to do it, but to just do it; not to perfect and complete it but to begin it. Once the car is moving, it’s easy to steer it in the right direction, but it’s much harder to start it up when it’s stalled. And prayer is stalled in our world.
Peter Kreeft
Unfortunately, a lot of Catholics weren’t taught how to pray, but how to repeat.
Father Mike Schmitz
Until you are convinced that prayer is the best use of your time, you will not find time for prayer.
Father Hilary Ottensmeyer
Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?
When we speak to Jesus with simplicity and with all our heart, He does like a mother who holds her child’s head with her hands and covers it with kisses and caresses.
Saint John Vianney
When I get “too busy” to pray, I envision Jesus at the Pearly Gates showing me the time I wasted looking for something to watch on Netflix.
Mark Hart
Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading.
Saint Isidore of Seville
The best gift anyone can give to a friend is to pray for him.
Father Benedict Groeschel
It’s impossible to lose your footing when you’re on your knees.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
When you pray to God, don’t hold back. He can handle it. Are you angry? Yell to God. Are you a mess? Give it to Him. Are you confused? Tell him. He can take it. He’s bigger than you.
Chris Stefanick
When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard more than the proceedings from the mouth.
Saint Bonaventure
Our prayer cannot be reduced to an hour on Sundays. It is important to have a daily relationship with the Lord.
Pope Francis
If it seems you’re strayin’, then get to prayin’.
Estelle Beutz
Prayer is the best preparation for Holy Communion. Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. When we pray we go to meet Christ Who is coming to us. If our Creator and Savior comes from heaven with such great love, it is only fitting that we should go to meet Him. And this is what we do when we spend some time in prayer.
Saint Bernardine of Siena
If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently and replace it tenderly in its Master’s presence. And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back and place it again in Our Lord’s presence, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed.
Saint Francis de Sales
I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.
Blessed Mother Teresa
Prayer should not treat God like a spiritual vending machine.
Trent Horn
The rosary is a weapon against depression and hopelessness.
Father Benedict Groeschel
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus offers more than God’s personal email or private cell number – He offers us a heart transplant.
Mark Hart
Many of us want to know why we don’t “hear” God when we pray. Few of us shut up long enough to really listen.
Mark Hart
Oh, how much holier the world would be if more people invoked their right to remain silent.
Mark Hart
The long nights that Pier Giorgio Frassati spent on his knees in front of the Blessed Sacrament had something to do with the long days spent in service of the poor.
Father Robert Barron
There is nothing the devil fears so much, or so much tries to hinder, as prayer.
Saint Philip Neri
What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?
Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs.
Saint Francis de Sales
Laziness in prayer is like handing the devil a key to your house.
Mark Hart
You are asking for something that would be harmful to your salvation if you had it—so by not getting what you’ve asked, you really are getting what you want.
Saint Catherine of Siena
The name of Jesus is a prayer, not a swear.
Pat Millea
In a way, fasting is like the “calming of the monkey mind” effected by the rosary prayer: both are means of stilling the effervescence of relatively superficial preoccupations.
Father Robert Barron
You could say that prayer without fasting is like boxing with one hand tied behind your back, and that fasting without prayer is, well, dieting.
Matt Fradd
Prayer does not change God, but him who prays.
Søren Kierkegaard
Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.
Saint John of the Cross
Note to self: If you can’t hear God when you pray, shut up.
Mark Hart
Ever doubt that God answers your prayers? Pray (sincerely) for humility… and watch what happens.
Mark Hart
If you really want to change someone’s life today, don’t just pray for them… pray with them.
Mark Hart
A broken heart is merely an empty manger. Invite the Virgin and the carpenter to pray beside you. Invite the Savior to dwell there.
Mark Hart
A parent asked me today, “How do you get your children to pray in church?” My response? “Pray at home.”
Mark Hart
Great morning prayer is like marinating in the Holy Spirit.
Mark Hart
Some people say, “If you trust in God’s unconditional love, why do you need to pray?” A better ending is “why wouldn’t you want to?”
Mark Hart
If I were as good at praying as I am at not praying I’d be really holy.
Mark Hart
When it’s hardest to pray are usually the times I need to pray the hardest. Not sure if that’s irony or common sense.
Mark Hart
When a majority of my prayers are for others to change, I’ve gotten off track. Lord, change this sinner’s heart.
Mark Hart
Put prayer back in the home and children will carry it with them to school.
God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “Thank You”?
The answer to anxiety is the adoration of Christ.
Ann Voskamp
Pray hardest when it’s hardest to pray.
It is not particularly difficult to find thousands who will spend two or three hours a day in exercising, but if you ask them to bend their knees to God in five minutes of prayer they protest that it is too long.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
If we prayed as much as we texted we would be as close to God as we are to our best friends.
Grace Knobbier
If you want someone who will give you whatever you want, get a magic lamp. If you want someone who will give you whatever you need, get on your knees.
Quinn Elliott
Before we pray that God will fill us, we ought to pray Him to empty us.
Dwight L. Moody
I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?
C.S. Lewis
Get used to lifting your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because he gives you this and that. Because you have been despised. Because you haven’t what you need or because you have. Because he made his Mother so beautiful, his Mother who is also your Mother. Because he created the sun and the moon and this animal and that plant. Because he made that man eloquent and you he left tongue-tied… Thank him for everything, because everything is good.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
If you’re not too busy to check your social media account or to eat everyday, then you’re not too busy to pray either.
Father Paul Scalia
If you say, “I’m just too busy to pray” then something else in your life has to give.
Father Paul Scalia
I love the line “I’m too busy to pray”. Thinking about facing our Lord in eternity and trying that line is a good way of revealing how false it is.
Father Paul Scalia
If you’re too busy to pray then you’re too busy.
Asking yourself what you’re afraid of can be a very powerful spiritual exercise.
Bishop Robert Barron
Before your feet hit the floor, let your knees hit the floor. This is the best way to start your day.
Father Larry Richards
How can we “pray without ceasing” when we are doing everything else “without ceasing”?
Marcus Grodi
A most excellent means of learning how to pray? Acknowledge that we are unworthy to pray, and so place our efforts entirely in the hands of the Lord.
Saint Philip Neri
The whole point of the Spiritual Exercises is to prepare soldiers.
Bishop Robert Barron
Lent is less about what you are giving up and more about who you are receiving: Jesus.
Twitter: @ClassyCatholic
You say you never have time to pray, but your Netflix browsing history would say otherwise.
Catholic Teen Posts Instagram page
If prayer is just another “when” on your schedule, then all of a sudden prayer takes on all of the importance of cleaning your toilet. It is not important, it’s just another thing.
Father Mike Schmitz
The hardest day to pray is the day after the day you forgot to pray.
Father Mike Schmitz
Prayer is oftentimes less like slipping into a hot tub and more like jumping into a pool and swimming laps.
Father Mike Schmitz
Unless you’re praying your faith is just a hobby.
Jon Leonetti
Prayer is when my heart goes up and God’s heart comes down and they smack together in the middle.
Seven year-old girl on Relevant Radio call-in show
Prayer is indispensible in strengthening our determination to refuse God nothing.
Father Jacques Philippe
Give it to God and go to sleep.
There are many days when we wake up with an empty tank. It’s vital for us to turn to God in prayer so He can fill us up for whatever He has in store for us that day.
Father Marc Paveglio
In order to create time to pray, we must destroy time to do something else. We must kill something, refuse something, say no to something.
Peter Kreeft
Find out how many hours a week you watch TV and use just half of that time for prayer. You’ll get a threefold benefit: garbage cleanup, prayer time, and extra time left over.
Peter Kreeft
The first rule for prayer, the most important first step, is not about how to do it, but to just do it; not to perfect and complete it but to begin it. Once the car is moving, it’s easy to steer it in the right direction, but it’s much harder to start it up when it’s stalled. So stop reading and start praying. Right now.
Peter Kreeft