John Calvin said this on prayer, while commenting on Jesus' prayer in Matthew 6:
Believers do not pray with the view of informing God about things known to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were relucant. On the conrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their faith in mediating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into his bossom; in a word, that they may declare that from him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things.
