Day 21: Prayer Quotes

Today was a good day as far as prayers and answers go.... My recent primary request has been in regards to finding the right place to move/live. Through the past several months of seeking to be in the right place for one thing or another (namely, the right state and the right job), I've developed a working theory of... well, I'm not sure what to call it. As I thought about it earlier today, it brought to mind the talk by Pres. Uchtdorf about enduring to the end/waiting patiently, and how that not a passive process, but an active one. It was a talk my mom shared with me at some point in the past two years when I was trying to figure out my life. PS: moms are pretty smart. We should listen to them more often.  Anyways, my working theory is that if I do all I can to push forward, and I'm doing so with faith in the Lord and many prayers, the answers will inevitably come. The right things will work themselves out, and the wrong ones.... well, they have this way of ebbing out of sight. I'm not sure I would have been able to direct my life this way before I realized so profoundly for myself that God is extremely aware of me and will stretch out His hand to intervene if I'm about to do something foolish. I trust He also stretches out those hands to lead us to good things... but my testimony of that intervention came from being saved from something bad. With the job, I thought for sure I needed to get back to Provo and be around friends. None of the jobs I applied for down there worked out. Slowly, the Lord changed my heart towards Salt Lake and one day I realized that I wanted to stay up here. A similar thing has happened as  I've pushed to find where to move next. I was adamant about moving downtown. I began to grant some consideration to Sugarhouse after that, but only the areas north of I80. It wasn't until this past week or so that I felt like I needed to consider areas south of I80. Slowly but surely, my heart was changed and directed. I've found places to go look at, and thanks to the help of friends and family, I have good options to consider now. I know I'm a little stubborn sometimes, but I'm thankful that the Lord works with me in a way that helps me see His guiding hand. 

That became much more than I intended it to be... now on to the rest of the post! I decided to look for quotes about prayer and see what I could discover. I really love reading the words of wise people, and I'm a firm believer in the idea that truth surrounds us, regardless of religious affiliation. That's a subject for another day, though.   :)  Tonight, I present you with a few lovely gems that spoke to my heart and mind about prayer. I know I'm kind of always inviting comments on here, but if you have a good prayer quote to share, feel free to leave a comment with it! 

Mother Teresa

May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

 Be not forgetful of prayer.  Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage, and you will understand that prayer is an education. (Brothers Karamazov) 

Phillips Brooks               

Pray the largest prayers. You cannot think a prayer so large that God, in answering it, will not wish you had made it larger. Pray not for crutches but for wings.

Epicurus                            

It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.

Soren Kierkegaard

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.

Abraham Lincoln

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Let us never forget to pray.  God lives.  He is near.  He is real.  He is not only aware of us but cares for us.  He is our Father.  He is accessible to all who will seek Him.