Things in themselves so supremely great, so far above man, so utterly above our perishable nature, as to be impossible for the race of rational mortal

 So far as I have observed, the first instance of the term prayer that I find is when Jacob, a fugitive from his brother Esau's wrath, was on his way t

 If then I must next, as you have urged, set forth in the first place the arguments of those who told that nothing is accomplished as a result of praye

 Of objects that move, some have the cause of motion outside them. Such are objects which are lifeless and in passive motion simply by force of conditi

 With a view to impel men to pray and to turn them from neglect of prayer, we may not unreasonably further use an illustration such as this. Just as, a

 So far, I have said that, even on the supposition that nothing else is going to follow our prayer, we receive the best of gains when we have come to p

 Again I believe the words of the prayer of the saints to be full of power above all when praying with the spirit, they pray also with the understan

 If Jesus prays and does not pray in vain, if He obtains His requests through prayer and it may be would not have received them without prayer, who of

 After thus interpreting the benefactions which have accrued to saints through their prayers, let us turn our attention to the words ask for the great

 Now request and intercession and thanksgiving, it is not out of place to offer even to men—the two latter, intercession and thanksgiving, not only to

 Everyone who asks for the earthly and little things from God disregards Him who has enjoined the asking of heavenly and great things. God is incapable

 What I have said, according to my capacity to receive the grace which has been given by God through His Christ, and as I trust in the Holy Spirit also

 Our Father in Heaven. It deserves a somewhat careful observation of the so-called Old Testament to discover whether it is possible to find anywhere in

 Hallowed be Thy name. Although this may represent either that the object of prayer has not yet come to pass, or after its attainment, that it is not p

 Thy Kingdom Come. According to the word of our Lord and Savior, the Kingdom of God does not come observably, nor shall men say 'Lo it is here', or 'Lo

 Thy Will be done on Earth also as in Heaven. After the clause Thy Kingdom come Luke has passed over these words in silence and placed the clause Give

 Give us today our Needful Bread, or as Luke has it, Give us daily our Needful Bread. Seeing that some suppose that it is meant that we should pray for

 And forgive us our Debts as we also have forgiven our Debtors, or as Luke has it, And forgive us our Sins, for we also ourselves forgive everyone in D

 And bring us not into Temptation but deliver us from Evil. In Luke the words but deliver us from Evil are omitted. Assuming that the Savior does not c

 I think it not out of place to add, by way of completing my task in reference to prayer, a somewhat elementary discussion of such matters as the dispo

VII. ANSWER TO OBJECTIONS: THE TRUE PLACE OF PRAYER IN MAN'S LIFE

Again I believe the words of the prayer of the saints to be full of power above all when praying "with the spirit," they pray "also with the understanding," which is like a light rising from the suppliant's mind and proceeding from his lips to gradually weaken by the power of God the mental venom injected by the adverse powers into the intellect of such as neglect prayer and fail to keep that saying of Paul's in accordance with the exhortations of Jesus, "Pray without ceasing." For it is as if a dart from the suppliant's soul, sped by knowledge and reason or by faith, proceeds from the saint and wounds to their destruction and dissolution the spirits adverse to God and desirous of casting round us the bonds of sin.

Now, since the performance of actions enjoined by virtue or by the commandments is also a constituent part of prayer, he prays without ceasing who combines prayer with right actions, and becoming actions with prayer. For the saying "pray without ceasing" can only be accepted by us as a possibility if we may speak of the whole life of a saint as one great continuous prayer.

Of such prayer what is usually termed prayer is indeed a part, and ought to be performed at least three times each day, as is plain from the account of Daniel who, in spite of the grave danger that impended, prayed three times daily. Peter furnishes an instance of the middle prayer of the three when he goes up to the housetop about the sixth hour to pray on that occasion on which he also saw the vessel which descended from heaven let down by four corners. The first is spoken of by David: "In the morning shall you hear my prayer: in the morning will I present myself to you and keep watch."

The last is indicated in the words: "the lifting up of my hands in evening sacrifice." Indeed we shall not rightly speak even the season of night without such prayer as David refers to when he says "at midnight I arose to make acknowledgment to you for your righteous judgments" and as Paul exemplifies when, as it is said in the Acts of the Apostles, along with Silas he offers prayer and praise to God "about midnight" in Phillipi so that the prisoners also heard them.

[12] Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις δυνάμεως πεπληρωμένους νομίζω τοὺς λόγους τῆς τῶν ἁγίων εὐχῆς, μάλιστα ὅτε προσευχόμενοι ”πνεύματι„ προσεύχονται „καὶ τῷ νοῒ,” φωτὶ ἐοικότι ἀνατέλλοντι ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ εὐχομένου διανοίας καὶ προϊόντι ἐκ στόματος αὐτοῦ ὑπεκλύειν δυνάμει θεοῦ τὸν ἐνιέμενον νοητὸν ἰὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ τῶν ἀμελούντων τοῦ εὔχεσθαι καὶ τὸ ”ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε„ ἀκολούθως ταῖς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ προτροπαῖς εἰρημένον παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ μὴ φυλαττόντων. ὡσπερεὶ γὰρ βέλος ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ εὐχομένου ψυχῆς τῇ γνώσει καὶ τῷ λόγῳ ἢ τῇ πίστει πρόεισιν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου, τιτρῶσκον ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει καὶ καταλύσει τὰ ἐχθρὰ τῷ θεῷ πνεύματα, τοῖς τῆς ἁμαρτίας δεσμοῖς περιβαλεῖν ἡμᾶς θέλοντα. „ἀδιαλείπτως” δὲ προσεύχεται, καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἀρετῆς ἢ τῶν ἐντολῶν τῶν ἐπιτελουμένων εἰς εὐχῆς ἀναλαμβανομένων μέρος, ὁ συνάπτων τοῖς δέουσιν ἔργοις τὴν εὐχὴν καὶ τῇ εὐχῇ τὰς πρεπούσας πράξεις. οὕτω γὰρ μόνως τὸ ”ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε„ ἐκδέξασθαι δυνάμεθα ὡς δυνατὸν ὂν εἰρημένον, εἰ πάντα τὸν βίον τοῦ ἁγίου μίαν συναπτομένην μεγάλην εἴποιμεν εὐχήν: ἧς εὐχῆς μέρος ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ συνήθως ὀνομαζομένη εὐχὴ, οὐκ ἔλαττον τοῦ τρὶς ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐπιτελεῖσθαι ὀφείλουσα: ὅπερ δῆλόν ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὸν Δανιὴλ, τηλικούτου ἐπηρτημένου αὐτῷ κινδύνου εὐχόμενον τρὶς τῆς ἡμέρας. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος δὲ ἀναβαίνων εἰς „τὸ δῶμα” –”περὶ„– τὴν „ἕκτην” ”προσεύξασθαι,„ ὅτε καὶ ἑώρα τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ „καθιέμενον” ”σκεῦος„ „τέτρασιν ἀρχαῖς καθιέμενον,” παρίστησι τὴν μέσην τῶν τριῶν εὐχὴν, τὴν πρὸ αὐτοῦ καὶ παρὰ τοῦ Δαυῒδ λεγομένην: ”τὸ πρωῒ εἰσακούσῃ τῆς προσευχῆς μου, τὸ πρωῒ παραστήσομαί σοι καὶ ἐπόψομαι„: καὶ τῆς τελευταίας δηλουμένης διὰ τοῦ: „ἔπαρσις τῶν χειρῶν μου θυσία ἑσπερινή.” ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὸν τῆς νυκτὸς καιρὸν χωρὶς ταύτης τῆς εὐχῆς καθηκόντως διανύσομεν, τοῦ μὲν Δαυῒδ λέγοντος: ”μεσονύκτιον ἐξεγειρόμην τοῦ ἐξομολογεῖσθαί σοι ἐπὶ τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου,„ τοῦ δὲ Παύλου, ὡς ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων εἴρηται, „κατὰ τὸ μεσονύκτιον” ἅμα τῷ Σίλᾳ ἐν Φιλίπποις προσευχομένου καὶ ὑμνοῦντος τὸν θεὸν, ὥστε ἐπακροᾶσθαι ”αὐτῶν„ καὶ τοὺς δεσμίους.