William Law: Prayer from the Heart

Tuesday/April/2013 15:56 Filed in: Prayer | Quotations

"For your heart is your life, and your life can only be altered by that which is the real working of your heart. And if your prayer is only a form of words, made by the skill of other people, such a prayer can no more change you into a good man, than an actor upon the stage, who speaks kingly language, is thereby made to be a king: whereas one thought, or word, or look, towards God, proceeding from your own heart, can never be without its proper fruit, or fail of doing a real good to your soul. Again, another great and infallible benefit of this kind of prayer is this; it is the only way to be delivered from the deceitfulness of your own hearts."

— William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Prayer [1749]

The writings of William Law — especially A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life were a great influence on John Wesley’s thinking about the Christian life. Here is an interesting article about the life of William Law at the Christian History web site: William Law. William Law’s writings can be found at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library: Works by William Law. A list of the brief quotes on prayer that have been posted on this blog can be found on the Prayer page.

Tags: William Law, Prayer