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Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes about Prayer

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But they all stood beneath the cross, enemies and believers, doubters and cowards, revilers and devoted followers. His prayer, in that hour, and his forgiveness, was meant for them all, and for all their sins. The mercy

But they all stood beneath the cross, enemies and believers, doubters and cowards, revilers and devoted followers. His prayer, in that hour, and his forgiveness, was meant for them all, and for all their sins. The mercy and love of God are at work even in the midst of his enemies. It is the same Jesus Christ, who of his grace calls us to follow him, and whose grace saves the murderer who mocks him on the cross in his last hour.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus, Prayer, Grace
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.34, SCM Press

I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued in a few seconds. In the almost 50 years that I have worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Men, Doctors

Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one's heart. It means rather to find the way to God and to speak with him, whether the heart is full or empty.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Heart, Mean

If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray. The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Heart, Important

A day without morning and evening prayers and personal intercessions is actually a day without meaning or importance.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Morning, Prayer, Evening

The richness of God’s Word ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Heart, Poverty
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1996). “Life Together: Prayerbook of the Bible”, Fortress Pr

It matters little what form of prayer we adopt or how many words we use. What matters is the faith which lays hold on God, knowing that He knows our needs before we even ask Him. That is what gives Christian prayer its boundless confidence and its joyous certainty.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Prayer, Knowing
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.110, SCM Press

Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Prayer, Character
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.110, SCM Press

Nothing is so at odds with prayer as vanity.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Vanity, Odds
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2008). “Barcelona, Berlin, New York, 1928-1931”

The child asks of the Father whom he knows. Thus, the essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration, but definite, concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Prayer, Children
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.111, SCM Press

When our will wholeheartedly enters into the prayer of Christ, then we pray correctly.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Praying, Christ
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eberhard Bethge (1974). “Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible”, p.11, Augsburg Books

The more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as our own, the more simple and rich will our prayer become.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Simple, Praying
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Samuel Wells (2015). “Life Together”, p.35, SCM Press

Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the community must enter every day.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Community, Baths
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Peter Frick (2010). “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Meditation and Prayer”, p.17, Liturgical Press

The right way to pray is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Father, Heart
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.111, SCM Press

The entire day receives order and discipline when it acquires unity. This unity must be sought and found in morning prayer. The morning prayer determines the day.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Morning, Prayer, Order
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eberhard Bethge (1974). “Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible”, p.64, Augsburg Books

It is much easier for me to imagine a praying murderer, a praying prostitute, than a vain person praying. Nothing is so at odds with prayer as vanity.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Vanity, Odds
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2008). “Barcelona, Berlin, New York, 1928-1931”

True prayer is done in secret, but this does not rule out the fellowship of prayer altogether, however clearly we may be aware of its dangers. In the last resort it is immaterial whether we pray in the open street or in the secrecy of our chambers, whether briefly or lenghtily, in the Litany of the Church, or with the sigh of one who knows not what he should pray for. True prayer does not depend either on the individual or the whole body of the faithful, but solely upon the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows our needs.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, Father, Faithful
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.111, SCM Press

If we want to read and to pray the prayers of the Bible and especially the Psalms, therefore, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ...It does not depend, therefore, on whether the Psalms express adequately that which we feel at a given moment in our heart. If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus, Prayer, Heart

The Psalter is the great school of prayer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Prayer, School, Great Schools
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2007). “I Want to Live These Days with You: A Year of Daily Devotions”, p.54, Westminster John Knox Press

Temptations which accompany the working day will be conquered on the basis of the morning breakthrough to God. Decisions, demanded by work, become easier and simpler where they are made not in the fear of men, but only in the sight of God. He wants to give us today the power which we need for our work.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Morning, Prayer, Work

The Psalter is the prayer book of Jesus Christ in the truest sense of the word. He prayed the Psalter and now it has become his prayer for all time...we understand how the Psalter can be prayer to God and yet God's own Word, precisely because here we encounter the praying Christ...because those who pray the psalms are joining in with the prayer of Jesus Christ, their prayer reaches the ears of God. Christ has become their intercessor.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus, Prayer, Book

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