Some on the Importance of Prayer . . .

(Found here)

“Prayer… by its action it is the reconciliation of man with God, the mother and daughter of tears, a bridge for crossing temptations, a wall of protection from afflictions, a crushing of conflicts, boundless activity, the spring of virtues, the source of spiritual gifts, invisible progress, food of the soul, the enlightening of the mind, an axe for despair, a demonstration of hope, the release from sorrow.”
~St. Abba Agathon

“The purpose of prayer is for us to acquire love of God, for in prayer can be discovered all sorts of reasons for loving God. Love of God proceeds from conversing with Him; this conversation of prayer comes about through stillness, and stillness comes with the stripping away of the self.”
~St. Isaac the Syrian

“Fire makes iron impossible to touch, and likewise frequent prayer renders the intellect more forceful in its warfare with the enemy. That is why the demons strive with all their strength to make us slothful in attentiveness to prayer, for they know that prayer is the intellect’s invincible weapon against them.”
~St. John of Karpathos