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For when we need men, we also need an expenditure of money and servile flattery, and much going about and trouble is required. For it is often not possible to give the favor directly to the masters themselves and to converse with them, but it is necessary first to serve their deacons and stewards and managers with money and with words and in every way, and then through them to have the request granted. But with God it is not so. For He does not need mediators for those who ask; nor does He grant the favor when besought by others as much as when we ask ourselves.

Sweet-sounding is that voice, and it ascends to the divine hearing; not the cry that is made with some straining, but the thought kindled from a pure conscience.

Gregory of Nyssa. He who in time of prayer is not directed toward what is profitable for the soul, but rather toward the passionate movements of his mind, demanding that God be disposed along with him, is truly a certain trifler, and a babbler and a chatterer and a windbag, and whatever else has such a meaning.

Eusebius. To pray first for the common salvation, and then for their own.

Nilus. Just as sparrows become airborne through the movement of their wings, so also the god-fearing man transfers himself from earthly things to heavenly things through prayers.

If you ask wrongly and unprofitably, just as (812) a man with a fever asks for wine to be given him, God, foreseeing the future, does not do your will, nor grant the irrational request.

Do not seek wealth in prayer, nor health, nor defense from enemies, nor human glory, but only those things that contribute to the salvation of the soul.

Just as breathing is never untimely, so neither is asking mystical requests from the Lord until the last breath.

When you ask God for some good thing, and He does not hear you immediately, do not make light of it, nor lose heart; for often the request is not profitable for you at the present time.

Aristotle. He who prays must be prudent, lest he unwittingly pray for some evil for himself.

Alexander. King Alexander, when Antipater wrote many things to him against his mother, said, Do you not know, Antipater, that one tear of a mother erases many letters of slander?

Epicurus. If God were to heed the prayers of men, all men would sooner perish, since they continually pray for many and harsh things against one another.

Isocrates. Men become better then, when they draw near to God; and they have this in common with God, to do good and to speak the truth.

Bias. This man, once sailing with impious men, when the ship was caught in a storm, and they were calling upon the gods, said, Be silent, lest they perceive that we are sailing here.

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Ἀνθρώπων μέν γάρ δεόμενοι, καί δαπάνης χρημάτων δεόμεθα καί κολακείας δουλοπρεποῦς, καί πολλῆς περιόδου καί πραγματείας χρεία. Οὐ γάρ ἐξ εὐθείας αὐτοῖς τοῖς κυρίοις δοῦναι τήν χάριν ἔνι καί διαλεχθῆναι πολλάκις, ἀλλ᾿ ἀνάγκη πρότερον διακόνους καί οἰκονόμους αὐτῶν καί ἐπιτρόπους, καί χρήμασι καί ῥήμασι καί παντί θεραπεῦσαι τρόπῳ, καί τότε δι᾿ ἐκείνων τήν αἴτησιν λαβεῖν. Ἐπί δέ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτως. Οὐ γάρ δεῖται μεσιτῶν ἐπί τῶν ἀξιούντων· οὐδ᾿οὕτως δι᾿ ἑτέρων παρακαλούμενος, ὡς δι' ἡμῶν αὐτῶν δεομένων ἐπινεύει τῇ χάριτι.

Εὔηχός ἐστιν ἐκείνη ἡ φωνή, καί μέχρι τῆς θείας ἀναβαίνουσα ἀκοῆς· οὐχ ἡ μετά τινος διατάσεως γινομένη κραυγή· ἀλλ᾿ ἡ ἀπό καθαρᾶς συνειδήσεως ἀναπτομένη ἐνθύμησις.

Γρηγ. Νύσσης. Ὁ ἐν καιρῷ προσευχῆς ή πρός τά λυσιτελοῦντα τῇ ψυχῇ τεταμένος, ἀλλά πρός τάς ἐμπαθεῖς τῆς διανοίας κινήσεις, συνδιατίθεσθαι τόν Θεόν ἀξιῶν, λῆρός τίς ἐστιν, ὡς ἀληθῶς, καί βαττολόγος καί φλήναφος καί φλύαρος, καί εἴ τι ἄλλο τῆς τοιαύτης σημασίας ἐστίν.

Εὐσεβίου. Ὑπέρ τῆς κοινῆς χρή εὔχεσθαι πρότερον σωτηρίας, εἶθ᾿ οὕτως ὑπέρ αὐτῶν.

Νείλου. Ὥσπερ τά στρουθία διά τῆς τῶν πτερῶν κινήσεως μετάρσια γίνεται, οὕτω καί ὁ θεοσεβής ἄνθρωπος ἀπό τῶν ἐπιγείων πρός τά οὐράνια διά προσευχῶν μετατίθησιν ἑαυτόν.

Ἐάν κακῶς καί ἀσυμφόρως αἰτεῖς, καθάπερ (812) ὁ πυρέττων ἄνθρωπος παρακαλεῖ παρασχεῖν αὐτῷ οἶνον, προβλέπων ὁ Θεός τά μέλλοντα οὐ ποιεῖ τό θέλημά σου, οὐδέ παρέχειν τήν ἀλόγιστον δέησιν.

Μή πλοῦτον ἐν δεήσει ζητήσῃς, μή ὑγείαν, ἤ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἄμυναν· μή δόξα ἀνθρωπινην· ἀλλά μόνον τά συντελοῦντα πρός σωτηρίαν ψυχῆς.

Ὥσπερ τό ἀναπνεῖν οὐδέποτε ἄκαιρον, οὕτως οὔτε τό αἰτεῖσθαι παρά Κυρίου αἰτήματα μυστικά μέχρις ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς.

Ὅταν περί τινος ἀγαθοῦ παρακαλέσῃς τόν Θεόν, καί μή εἰσακούσῃ σου παραυτίκα, μή ὀλιγωρήσῃς, μηδέ ὀλιγοψυχήσῃς· πολλάκις γάρ πρός τό παρόν οὐ συμφέρει σοι τό αἴτημα.

Ἀριστοτ. Τόν εὐχόμενον δεῖ φρόνιμον εἶναι· μή λάθῃ τι κακόν εὐξάμενος ἑαυτῷ.

Ἀλέξανδρ. Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ βασιλεύς, ἐπεί Ἀντίπατρος αὐτῷ πολλά κατά τῆς μητρός ἔγραφεν, Ἀγνοεῖς, ἔφη, Ἀντίπατρε, ὅτι μητρός ἕν δάκρυον, πολλῶν διαβολῶν ἐπιστολάς ἀπαλείφει;

Ἐπικούρ. Εἰ ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων εὐχαῖς ὁ Θεός κατηκολούθει, θᾶττον ἄν ἀπόλοιντο πάντες ἄνθρωποι, συνεχῶς πολλά καί χαλεπά κατ᾿ ἀλλήλων εὐχόμενοι.

Ἰσοκράτ. Οἱ ἄνθρωποι τότε γίνονται βελτίους, ὅταν Θεῷ προσέρχονται· ὅμοιον δέ ἔχουσι Θεῷ, τό εὐεργετεῖν καί ἀληθεύειν.

Βίας. Οὗτος συμπλέων ποτέ ἐσεβέσι, χειμαζομένης τῆς νεώς, κἀκείνων Θεούς ἐπικαλουμένων, Σιγᾶτε, ἔφη, μή αἴσθωνται ἡμᾶς ἐνθάδε πλέοντας.