On Prayer

1. He who prays to God as much for the sake of judgement

as he does for the forgiveness of <his> sins

seeks not to offend justice.

 

2. To pray to God to grant one the will

with which to honour Him

constitutes a prayer of great sanctity.

 

3. May he who knows how to lend order to his prayers

pray to God for the purpose of honouring Him

rather than for the sake of his own salvation.

 

4. He who well knew how to pray to God

could never be disappointed

by that which he sought to request from Him.

 

5. To the degree that man is a sinner,

should he pray to Our Lord

that He may show great forgiveness.

 

6. God allows men to pray to Him,

<which men> pray that He may bestow love upon them,

on account of which <love> they may honour Him.

 

7. He who prays to God at <the point of> death

so that He may forgive his faults and misdeeds

must have loved Him very fervently.

 

8. It is better to pray to God when one is in <rude> health

than to do so when one is unwell,

because <in the former case> He will hearken to <one’s prayer> much more readily.

 

9. He who prays to God with an angry heart,

in the absence of piety and love (lit. “charity”),

commits very great wickedness.

 

10. He who prays to God in order to do evil

causes God to be dishonoured by his prayers,

which person God does not allow to pray to Him.