--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Prayer must never be answered: if it is…" description: "\"Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence.\" — Oscar Wilde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b3/oscar-wilde-16_cease_prayer-must-never-be-answered-if-it-is-i_2379613.jpg" --- # Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be… ![“Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b3/oscar-wilde-16_cease_prayer-must-never-be-answered-if-it-is-i_2379613.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b3/oscar-wilde-16_cease_prayer-must-never-be-answered-if-it-is-i_2379613.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b3/oscar-wilde-16_cease_prayer-must-never-be-answered-if-it-is-i_2379613.jpg) > “Prayer must never be answered: if it is, it ceases to be prayer and becomes correspondence.” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prayer loses its spiritual essence when it becomes a request for a specific answer. **In simple terms:** Prayer should stay spiritual, not transactional. Key Takeaway Value prayer as a practice, not a demand. Themes spirituality faith communication Mood contemplative philosophical Type literary spiritual When to use this quote - personal meditation - interfaith dialogue - writing on faith - teaching religious studies Key Concepts theology philosophy of religion Questions to Reflect On - What distinguishes prayer from mere asking? - Can unanswered prayer still be meaningful? 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I still firmly believe that, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-smith/i-have-said-in-many-interviews-that-god-had-a-better-plan-for-me-than/) [Phyllis Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-smith/) > [Who rises from prayer a better man, his prayer is answered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-meredith/who-rises-from-prayer-a-better-man-his-prayer-is-answered/) [George Meredith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-meredith/) > [For all prayer is answered. Don't tell God how to answer it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-cayce/for-all-prayer-is-answered-don-t-tell-god-how-to-answer-it/) [Edgar Cayce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-cayce/) > [Help" is a prayer that is always answered. 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It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. 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For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More Cease quotes > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In the name of Jerusalem. 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