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11 Quotes on Prayer from Teresa of Avila

teresa of avila quotes

Teresa of Avila was a Spanish Carmelite nun born in 1515. She was a theologian who focused on mental prayer where one loves God and spends time in His presence though dialogue, meditating on the Word and contemplating His face. Her books on prayer have been considered Christian classics. We hope these eleven Teresa of Avila quotes introduce you to this richly gifted woman of God.

11 Teresa of Avila Quotes on Prayer

1. On Asking

“You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.”

2. Are You Too Comfortable?

“Prayer and comfortable living are incompatible.”

3. Mental Prayer

“Mental prayer is, as I see it, simply a friendly intercourse and frequent solitary conversation with Him who, as we know, loves us.”

4. Prayerlessness

“Souls without prayer are like people whose bodies or limbs are paralyzed: they possess feet and hands but they cannot control them.”

5. God is Calling

“This Beloved of ours is merciful and good. Besides, he so deeply longs for our love that he keeps calling us to come closer. This voice of his is so sweet that the poor soul falls apart in the face of her own inability to instantly do whatever he asks of her. And so you can see, hearing him hurts much more than not being able to hear him… For now, his voice reaches us through words spoken by good people, through listening to spiritual talks, and reading sacred literature. God calls to us in countless little ways all the time. Through illnesses and suffering and through sorrow he calls to us. Through a truth glimpsed fleetingly in a state of prayer he calls to us. No matter how halfhearted such insights may be, God rejoices whenever we learn what he is trying to teach us.”