“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
— Søren Kierkegaard
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” — Søren Kierkegaard
We ask not to change God but to change ourselves. We pray to form a living relationship, not to get things done. Prayer is a symbiotic relationship with life and with God, a synergy which creates a result larger than the exchange itself.
Richard Rohr • Breathing Under Water : Spirituality and the Twelve Steps
Prayer, both ecclesial and personal prayer, thus ranks higher than all action, not in the first place as a source of psychological energy (“refueling,” as they say today), but as the act of worship and glorification that befits love,
James K. A. Smith • You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit
Life is a prayer; it’s a dialogue.
Stuart Wilde • Infinite Self: 33 Steps to Reclaiming Your Inner Power
spoke not of changing the world, but of listening to one’s inner life.
Cole Arthur Riley • This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us
I am starting to see there is a difference between “saying prayers” and honest praying. Both can sound the same on the outside, but the former is too often motivated by a sense of obligation and guilt; whereas the latter is motivated by a conviction that I am completely helpless to “do life” on my own. Or in the case of praying for others, that I a
... See moreDavid Powlison • A Praying Life
SPIRITUALITY IS THE ART OF TRANSFIGURATION. We should not force ourselves to change by hammering our lives into any predetermined shape. We do not need to operate according to the idea of a predetermined programme or plan for our lives.