--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Prayer and helplessness are inseparable…" description: "\"Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is helpless can truly pray. Your helplessness is your best. prayer.\" — Ole Hallesby" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/ole-hallesby-10454_best-prayer_prayer-and-helplessness-are-inseparable_3074547.jpg" --- # Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is… ![“Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is helpless can truly pray. Your helplessness is your best. prayer.” quote by Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/ole-hallesby-10454_best-prayer_prayer-and-helplessness-are-inseparable_3074547.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/ole-hallesby-10454_best-prayer_prayer-and-helplessness-are-inseparable_3074547.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/ole-hallesby-10454_best-prayer_prayer-and-helplessness-are-inseparable_3074547.jpg) > “Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is helpless can truly pray. Your helplessness is your best. prayer.” [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True prayer arises from recognizing one's dependence and vulnerability, not from self‑sufficiency. **In simple terms:** Helplessness enables sincere prayer. Key Takeaway Embrace humility to deepen prayer. Themes humility faith dependence Mood reflective contemplative Type spiritual inspirational When to use this quote - personal worship - counseling - support groups - crisis coping Key Concepts theology spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging weakness change your spiritual practice? - Can vulnerability be a strength? A Different Perspective If one feels powerless, prayer may feel futile. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-prayer/) [Helpless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpless/) [Helplessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helplessness/) [Helplessness Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helplessness-best-3606965/) [Helplessness Inseparable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helplessness-inseparable-5216663/) [Inseparable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inseparable/) [Pray Helplessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pray-helplessness-2311659/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Prayer Helplessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer-helplessness-874182/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) ## Related quotes > [Listen, my friend! Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/listen-my-friend-your-helplessness-is-your-best-prayer-it-calls-from/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/helplessness-is-your-best-prayer-it-calls-from-your-heart-to-the/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [The very thing that most qualifies us to pray is our helplessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jeremiah/the-very-thing-that-most-qualifies-us-to-pray-is-our-helplessness/) [David Jeremiah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jeremiah/) > [“Prayer is helplessness plus faith.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-thrasher/prayer-is-helplessness-plus-faith/) [Bill Thrasher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-thrasher/) > [Prayer is helplessness casting itself on Power, infirmity leaning on Strength, misery reaching to Mercy, and a prisoner clamoring for Relief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/prayer-is-helplessness-casting-itself-on-power-infirmity-leaning-on/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Prayer assumes need. “Prayer and helplessness are inseparable.”116 Jesus described this in a parable of two churchgoers in Luke 18. One man, a religious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-r-mcminn/prayer-assumes-need-prayer-and-helplessness-are-inseparable-116-jesus/) [Mark R. McMinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-r-mcminn/) > [By prayer we couple the powers of Heaven to ou helplessness, the powers which can capture strongholds and make the impossible, possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/by-prayer-we-couple-the-powers-of-heaven-to-ou-helplessness-the/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Helplessness becomes prayer the moment that you go to Jesus and speak candidly and confidently with him about your needs. This is to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/helplessness-becomes-prayer-the-moment-that-you-go-to-jesus-and-speak/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Helplessness is the real secret and the impelling power of prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/helplessness-is-the-real-secret-and-the-impelling-power-of-prayer/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [My helpless friend, your helplessness is the most powerful plea which rises up to the tender father-heart of God. You think that everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/my-helpless-friend-your-helplessness-is-the-most-powerful-plea-which/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Without faith there can be no prayer, no matter how great our helplessness may be. Helplessness united with faith produces prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/without-faith-there-can-be-no-prayer-no-matter-how-great-our/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [A humble and contrite heart knows that it can merit nothing before God, and that all that is necessary is to be reconciled to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/a-humble-and-contrite-heart-knows-that-it-can-merit-nothing-before/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Helplessness united with faith produces prayer, for without faith there can be no prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/helplessness-united-with-faith-produces-prayer-for-without-faith/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [To pray is to open the door unto Jesus and admit Him into your distress. Your helplessness is the very thing which opens wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/to-pray-is-to-open-the-door-unto-jesus-and-admit-him-into-your/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [“One foggy night I was walking the dogs down the lane and heard the geese, very close overhead, calling, calling, their marvellous strange cry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/one-foggy-night-i-was-walking-the-dogs-down-the-lane-and-heard-the/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) ## More by Ole Hallesby > [To pray is to open the door unto Jesus and admit Him into your distress. Your helplessness is the very thing which opens wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/to-pray-is-to-open-the-door-unto-jesus-and-admit-him-into-your/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [It is God's will not only to hear our prayer, but to give us the best and the richest answer which He, the almighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/it-is-god-s-will-not-only-to-hear-our-prayer-but-to-give-us-the-best/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Our prayer life will become restful when it really dawns upon us that we have done all we are supposed to do when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/our-prayer-life-will-become-restful-when-it-really-dawns-upon-us-that/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [To strive in prayer means to struggle through those hindrances which would restrain or even prevent us entirely from continuing in persevering prayer. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/to-strive-in-prayer-means-to-struggle-through-those-hindrances-which/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Helplessness united with faith produces prayer, for without faith there can be no prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/helplessness-united-with-faith-produces-prayer-for-without-faith/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [The shower of answers to your prayers will continue to your dying hour. Nor will it cease then. When you pass out from beneath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/the-shower-of-answers-to-your-prayers-will-continue-to-your-dying/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Praise lies upon a higher plane than thanksgiving. When I give thanks, my thoughts still circle about myself to some extent. But in praise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/praise-lies-upon-a-higher-plane-than-thanksgiving-when-i-give-thanks/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [If God does not give you something you ask for, wait on Him. He will speak with you tenderly and sympathetically about the matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/if-god-does-not-give-you-something-you-ask-for-wait-on-him-he-will/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [We need to learn to know Him so well that we feel safe when we have left our difficulties with Him. To know in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/we-need-to-learn-to-know-him-so-well-that-we-feel-safe-when-we-have/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Praise lies upon a higher plain than thanksgiving. When I give thanks, my thoughts still circle around myself to some extent. But in praise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/praise-lies-upon-a-higher-plain-than-thanksgiving-when-i-give-thanks/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [To pray is nothing more involved than to open the door, giving Jesus access to our needs and permitting Him to exercise His own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/to-pray-is-nothing-more-involved-than-to-open-the-door-giving-jesus/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [When we succeed in truly thanking God, we feel good at heart. The reason is that we have been created to give glory to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/when-we-succeed-in-truly-thanking-god-we-feel-good-at-heart-the/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [A humble and contrite heart knows that it can merit nothing before God, and that all that is necessary is to be reconciled to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/a-humble-and-contrite-heart-knows-that-it-can-merit-nothing-before/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [Jesus is moved to happiness every time He sees that you appreciate what He has done for you. Grip His pierced hand and say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/jesus-is-moved-to-happiness-every-time-he-sees-that-you-appreciate/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [If we will make use of prayer to call down upon ourselves and others those things which will glorify the name of God, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/if-we-will-make-use-of-prayer-to-call-down-upon-ourselves-and-others/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) [Explore all 65 Ole Hallesby quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) ## More Best prayer quotes > [“One foggy night I was walking the dogs down the lane and heard the geese, very close overhead, calling, calling, their marvellous strange cry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/one-foggy-night-i-was-walking-the-dogs-down-the-lane-and-heard-the/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude - an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/prayer-is-not-so-much-an-act-as-it-is-an-attitude-an-attitude-of/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [A good deed is the best prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/a-good-deed-is-the-best-prayer/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/pray-for-powers-equal-to-your-tasks/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/some-people-pray-just-to-pray-and-some-people-pray-to-know-god/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/prayer-is-not-asking-it-is-a-longing-of-the-soul/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honors God and brings him into active aid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/prayer-is-the-greatest-of-all-forces-because-it-honors-god-and-brings/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [Helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/helplessness-is-your-best-prayer-it-calls-from-your-heart-to-the/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [There is no other place where the heart should be so free as before the mercy seat. There, you can talk out your very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/there-is-no-other-place-where-the-heart-should-be-so-free-as-before/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [You may pray for an hour and still not pray. You may meet God for a moment and then be in touch with Him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-fredrik-wisl-ff/you-may-pray-for-an-hour-and-still-not-pray-you-may-meet-god-for-a/) [Carl Fredrik Wisløff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-fredrik-wisl-ff/) > [“Without a plan in your head or a penny in your pocket, you best have a prayer in your heart-”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-b-brewer/without-a-plan-in-your-head-or-a-penny-in-your-pocket-you-best-have-a/) [Nancy B. Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-b-brewer/) > [Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whatever-you-ask-in-prayer-believe-that-you-have-received-it-and-it/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-respond-to-every-impulse-to-pray-the-impulse-to-pray-may-come/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [O, do not pray for easy lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/o-do-not-pray-for-easy-lives/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Here are the two best prayers I know: 'Help me, help me, help me,' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' A woman I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/here-are-the-two-best-prayers-i-know-help-me-help-me-help-me-and/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) [Browse all 30 Best prayer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-prayer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only he who is helpless can truly pray. 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