In this archive we are keeping those sections from Quaker Faith and Practice that particularly spoke to us:
PRAYER
From the sections on prayer we felt the following gave a range of thoughtful perspectives:
(The first number is a cross reference to the paragraph in the book and the second the year it was written).
‘Prayer is not words or acts, but reaching down to love: holding our fellows in love, offering ourselves in love and being caught up in love’ (2.23 1937)
‘A friend tells me that when she prays for someone she does not so much pray to God for them as for God for them. This seems to me a vital clue about prayer. It is God that the troubled person needs, not our advice and instructions. As we learn more about worship we learn to listen more deeply so that we can be the channels though which God’s love reaches the other person.’
(2.26 1979)
Prayer is an act of sharing with God, the Spirit, and not an attempt to prompt God to action. It is a promise that I will do my best, even if what I am able to do seems too insignificant to be worthwhile. When I pray for peace, and that the hearts of those in authority may be changed, it is a promise that I shall do such things as write to those in power, share in vigils, and above all lead my own life, as far as possible, in such a manner as to take away the occasion for strife between individuals and between peoples.
(2.27 1984)