I can give my own testimony and say that a heartfelt prayer is undoubtedly the most potent instrument that humanity possesses for overcoming cowardice and all other bad old habits. I have never found God lacking in response. I have found God nearest at hand when the horizon seemed darkest — in my ordeals in jails when it was not all smooth sailing for me. I cannot recall a moment in my life when I had a sense of desertion by God.

Mahatma Gandhi, Mohandas Gandhi: Essential Writings by Mahatma Gandhi, John Dear, editor