If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.

Lord, please do this ... or do something better!

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?Then he is not omnipotent.Is he able, but not willing?Then he is malevolent.Is he both able and willing?Then whence cometh evil?Is he neither able nor willing?Then why call him God?

The gods can either take away evil from the world and will not,or, being willing to do so, cannot;or they neither can nor will,or lastly, they are both able and willing. If they have the will to remove evil and cannot, then they are not omnipotent.If they can, but will not, than they are not benevolent.If they are neither able nor willing, then they are neither omnipotent nor benevolent.Lastly, if they are both able and willing to annihilate evil, why does it exist?

There is nothing to fear from gods, There is nothing to feel in death, Good can be attained, Evil can be endured

God is better served in resisting a Temptation to Evil, than in many formal Prayers.