
It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray.
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How to Pray?
Pray incessantly;
Pray most fervently;
Pray with all your heart;
God will do His part!
Pray most sensibly;
Pray most effectively;
Pray deep from your heart;
Pray as if an art!
Pray for prolonged time;
Pray in any clime;
Pray by singing rhymes;
God’s answers chime!
Pray in holy place;
Pray with heav’nly gaze;
Pray for human race;
Pray in many ways.
Let prayers rise up high;
Let prayers pierce the sky;
Let prayers touch God’s heart,
As blessings divine start!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 11-14-2009
poem by John Celes

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Sonnet XI: Tears, Vows, and Prayers
Tears, vows, and prayers win the hardest heart:
Tears, vows, and prayers have I spent in vain;
Tears cannot soften flint, nor vows convert;
Prayers prevail not with a quaint disdain.
I lose my tears where I have lost my love;
I vow my faith where faith is not regarded;
I pray in vain a merciless to move;
So rare a faith ought better be rewarded.
Yet though I cannot win her will with tears,
Though my soul's idol scorneth all my vows,
Though all my prayers be to so deaf ears,
No favor though the cruel Fair allows.
Yet will I weep, vow, pray to cruel she;
Flint, frost, disdain wears, melts, and yields we see.
poem by Samuel Daniel

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A Prayer
may all the good old people of this world
have a happy death,
may not the young die at their young age
may those who pray for death
be enlightened to choose life
and live in peace in an actualized self,
may all those who have forgotten prayer
pray, and may all those who still pray
pray some more to learn to pray
and pray earnestly that all
prayers through God's Holy Will
be heard and granted.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Pray
I pray for your safety my love
Pray your dreams be fulfilled
Pray for help from God above
Pray a shattered world rebuild
Pray with me, that all are fed
Pray our Lord God will listen
Pray we see what lay ahead
Pray our mortal souls be risen
Pray for all who now do suffer
Pray for respite from their pain
Pray empathy provides a buffer
Pray for those few gone insane
Believe sincere prayers always work
Believe prayer lights where Satan lurks
(Dedicated to my Beloved)
ROTMS
poem by Ray Lucero

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The power of prayer
You pray a lot and take pride
That your prayers are granted
And you pray some more
Like a monk like a priest,
Sometimes I think about
Prayerful dogs, what if their
Prayers are granted too
Bones and more bones
Would surely rain from
The heavenly skies.
Oh yes, I pray, but if my
Prayers are not granted,
I still know that God loves me
He thinks my wants are not the best
For me, and he reserves the rest.
That really suits me best.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Prayer Warriors
We are the prayer warriors and we say the prayers
For all the people for whom we care.
It matters not the position you’re in
If you’re good or if you sinned.
We all need prayers some time in our lives
Especially when things don’t turn out right.
When you’re sick or in despair
The prayer warriors are always there.
You pray for me as I pray for you
And all our prayers will come true.
We do not have to be gathered
As a group when we pray.
In a church, a temple, in a steeple
He listens to all of us, for we are his people.
They say there is strength when we gather in prayer
A common belief that we all share.
So let us pray for our fellow man
Because he now needs a helping hand.
So father we thank you for the blessings each day
And helping all who come your way.
poem by Louis Rams

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Expect Your ………….You!
Expect your friend to be not better than you;
Expect your neighbor to not forgive you;
Expect your country not to goad you;
Expect your siblings to but discourage you;
Expect your children to not care for you;
Expect your spouse to rather hinder you;
Expect your love to always forget you;
Expect your home sometimes to ignore you;
Expect your native place to not honor you;
Expect the world to disregard you;
Expect your enemy to well hate you;
Expect your Maker to much love you;
Expect your God to never forsake you;
Expect your Lord and God to never abandon you.
poem by John Celes

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You Are The Prayer!
pray for peace,
and then live your prayers!
pray for love,
then give your love a body.
pray for hope,
then make the changes needed
to bring hope life!
pray for forgiveness,
and then forgive!
pray for courage,
then dare to do!
pray for fullfilment,
then give everything you
cherish away!
pray for wisdom,
then listen intently!
pray for tomorrow,
then live today!
pray for truth,
then walk naked and strong!
pray for the earth,
then treat it with respect...
pray with all of your heart,
then be silent and still,
knowing, and believing,
that you are the prayer!
poem by Eric Cockrell

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Don’t test the God
Don’t expect God to redeem what you’ve lost.
He has to redeem what you’ve got.
Don’t expect God to help you get what you crave.
He has to help others get what you’ve got.
Don’t pray for a win in a battle.
The rival will also pray to Him like that.
Don’t test Him. Don’t embarrass Him.
Ask Him to cleanse you, no more or no less.
26.02.2010
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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Unanswered Prayers
The greatest gift
Can sometimes be…
Unanswered prayers
Life composed…
Then unexpectedly exposed
as a labyrinth of layers
For what you pray today…
could be The opposite of…
your prayers upon the morrow
And the granted prayer
Now wished undone, becomes…
A source of new found sorrow
Take care in prayer
Intone it wisely…
waste it not, I pray of you
Take care in what you pray for
For your prayer…
just might come true
poem by David Whalen

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Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.
quote by Sarah Ban Breathnach

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sonnet to J.L. #1
I wonder why your ships are painted green
While ours are gray? I’ve heard some sailors say
That swift ships, camouflaged, can move unseen
Against the sea. Strange, though, it’s always cold gray
Winter’s sea that we anticipate.
I think perhaps you’re wiser with your green.
It is as though you mean to imitate
The warmer, friendlier seas that lie between
The tropics. I wonder, could it be
Your ships are prayers, . their paint a subtle way
To challenge God to grant a happier sea
Than we’d expect in our dour ships of gray?
If so, I pray that God hears your green prayer
And sends you always green seas, calm and fair.
poem by S.J. Fulton

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How Do I Pray?
Pray, pray
How do I pray?
Usually at the
end of my day.
Pray, pray
For what do I pray?
I pray for peace
in everyone's day.
Pray, pray
To whom do I pray?
To my soul giver
that's not far away.
Pray, pray
Why do I pray?
For if there's a heaven
maybe someday
The praying was worth it
and then I'll know
where those that don't pray
will have to stay.
And pray and pray
and pray all day.
poem by Edwina Reizer

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No Mystery Is There
No mystery is there,
When God pays a visit.
Prayers are answered...
For those devoted,
And with faith believe.
The ones who go through the motions...
Are not completely freed.
Doubts scatter about in their minds.
With images perceived.
Messages they get...
Are often discredited and thrown away.
And still they pray to be relieved...
Of miseries carried and/or adorned,
On their sleeves.
And a presence God selects,
To ensure to those faithful...
He is, indeed, near.
Those of conflicting hypocrisies,
Choose not to silence their lips.
Yet quick to close their ears.
No mystery is there,
When God pays a visit.
Prayers are answered...
For those devoted,
And with faith believe.
'Those can not be,
The messages for 'me' to receive.
They come across too intellectual.
And a feeling of suspicion...
Wishes inside of me for them to leave.'
~And you are more familiar with nonsense?
With an acceptance of that and deceit? ~
'No,
I'm not saying that at all.
If God were to contact me...
I would know it in His manner of 'speech'.
Which I 'perceive' is more down to Earth,
Than what I've heard falsely spoken to me.'
~So,
In other words...
You are a selective listener? ~
'I'm just saying...
I know the voice of God when I hear it.
And so far,
The only voices that I've heard,
Are from those folks who think they know me.
They don't know me to tell me what I should do! '
~So why do you pray? ~
'To get answers from God,
Of course.
What a stupid question! '
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Im Born Again
Im born again, I feel free
No longer alone
A bright light is shinning
And shows me a world that I own
I can see my way through
I know I will walk beside you
All those prayers of mine werent in vain
Im born again
Im born again, I feel free
Theres a quite different me
No longer Im tossed like a ship
On an unruly sea
Ive been blessed with a love
Thats meant for the rest of my time
All those prayers they were not in vain
Im born again
Since love touched my heart right
My life has a meaning
I feel Im no longer drifting in space
I believe once again that there is a tomorrow
A brand new tomorrow, I know I can face
Im born again, I feel free
No longer alone
A bright light is shinning
And shows me a world that I own
I can see my way through
I know I will walk beside you
All those prayers of mine werent in vain
Im born again
All those prayers they werent in vain
cause Im born again
song performed by by Boney M.

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wishes That Remain Ungranted
we thank God for those wishes
and prayers that till today remained unanswered
there are reasons
he knows all these reasons and we fall short of our limited explanations
we do not have to pray hard for something
that we do not deserve
for some things that may after all be not good for ourselves
the very reason why they remained as not ours to have and to hold
those who insisted and those whose prayers are finally answered
God says
have been duly punished.
we only pray for what God wills
that is wise enough.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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Expect More
Expect more,
From yourself...
Before your self respect,
becomes enclosed
Behind shut doors.
Expect more,
Not less.
When your best,
Has been ignored.
Expect more,
Or you'll be next...
Left when your intentions,
Begin to bore.
Expect more,
From those awake.
But the exchange makes them snore.
Expect more,
If a game played becomes too straight.
And you must be that whore!
To gain the attention,
Some express you adore.
Expect more...
From them and yourself to win.
In this life expect more.
Don't accept what is suspected.
Don't throw tantrums and fits...
Just to keep limits explored!
Expect more!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Mortals! Around Your Destined Heads
Mortals! around your destined heads
Thick fly the shafts of death,
And lo! the savage spoiler spreads
A thousand toils beneath.
In vain we trifle with our fate,
Try every art in vain;
At best we but prolong the date,
And lengthen out our pain.
Fondly we think all danger fled,
For death is ever nigh;
Outstrips our unavailing speed,
Or meets us as we fly.
Thus the wrecked mariner may strive
Some desert shore to gain,
Secure of life, if he survive
The fury of the main.
But there, to famine doomed a prey,
Finds the mistaken wretch
He but escaped the troubled sea,
To perish on the beach.
Since then in vain we strive to guard
Our frailty from the foe,
Lord, let me live not unprepared
To meet the fatal blow!
poem by William Cowper

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Trapped
Trapped in the fog
cant find my way
I scream, I cry in vain
fog thickens like cloud
about to rain,
nothing can pass through
not a sound or ray
none is around or can hear
I close my eyes, and pray
only god is my hope
I crouch and sit on a rock
in the cold hard wind i knock
this is my test of life
I must not give up but strive
and I must keep my faith
he is not far away
perhaps with somebody
more needy than me
and will surely pull me out
I know he is on his way
poem by Dr Madhavi Grace

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On a picture of my father
I strive in vain those features to restore
To Memory's faded tablets, which on me,
From the mute ivory, beam so lovingly,
And to recall their living light once more.
In vain I strive to pierce that veil of years,
And turn away all blinded with my tears.
But sometimes when the garish day is passed,
And night and sleep their spell upon me cast,
Thou comest to me, my father, from above,
And then for that brief moment I am blest,
For I am folded to thy sheltering breast;
And in the sacred rapture of thy love
A holy spell is on my spirit laid:
This mighty hunger of my heart is stayed.
poem by Anne Lynch Botta from Poems (1848)

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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