History Main / PrayerIsALastResort

* In ''ComicBook/Aquaman1991'', Vulko doesn't believe in any of Atlantis' four religions, but prays to Poseidon for Aquaman's aid in a time of crisis.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Chick Tract|s}}'' "War Zone", Principal Ward, confronted with parents of Westmont students who are angry about the state of the failing school, says he's tried everything, only for things to keep getting worse, and that, "The '''only''' thing I can think of is to... uh, '''pray for a miracle'''". He gets booed off the stands, but this being a Chick tract, prayer and converting students to Christianity ''is'' what [[DeusExMachina miraculously]] gets Westmont back on track.
* In the (in)famous DC comics miniseries ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'', when all the magic/mythical power based heroes lost their powers, we see Diana (Wonder Woman) praying in a Catholic Church... did we mention Diana is more related to the Greek pantheon (and was in fact ''literally made by them'') than to the Judeo-Christian one, or that she lives on a [[FantasyKitchenSink World where supernatural creatures and Gods]] [[AllMythsAreTrue are known to be real]] [[PalsWithJesus and commonly seen around with other heroes in a regular basis]]?
* One of the ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'' comics has this. Father Blaise is brought along with the expedition, but since he's no good at fighting, they tell him to pray. Despite telling them [[ReligionIsMagic it doesn't work that way]], he keeps at it, and at the climax his holy symbol unloads a TurnUndead against the monsters. When asked how the hell he pulled that off, he reminds them that he's been praying for the past twenty hours.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' tie-in to ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion2008'', the team is captured by Skrulls led by Xavin's old mentor, who has most of the team incapacitated, except for Klara, the least combat-experienced member. Unable to fight back against a fully-trained Super-Skrull, god-fearing Klara prays for someone to save her and her friends... at which point a tree bursts out of the ground, creating enough of a distraction for the other Runaways to escape their bonds and fight back.
* One issue of ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' has obscure superhero Element Girl DrivenToSuicide because her powers make her look less than human. Since her powers prevent her from killing herself in any of the conventional ways, she finally appeals to the god Ra, who gave her the powers in the first place, to take them back. Ra agrees.

* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' (the Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger film).

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], in that in the original stories Crom ''will'' kill people who pray to him for direct aid.
* Arnie (as Jericho Cane) also prayed toward the end of ''Film/EndOfDays'' [[spoiler:and since he's fighting off DemonicPossession from Satan himself, it's appropriate]].

[[FromBadToWorse Nothing seems to be going right.]] The character is continuously failing to make any progress, despite [[{{Determinator}} constantly trying]].Eventually, they reach a point where they've exhausted all avenues for success and there are no other options.

[[FromBadToWorse Nothing seems to be going right.]] The character is continuously failing to make any progress, despite [[{{Determinator}} constantly trying]]. But eventually, they reach a point where they've exhausted all avenues for success and there are no other options.

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' tie-in to ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'', the team is captured by Skrulls led by Xavin's old mentor, who has most of the team incapacitated, except for Klara, the least combat-experienced member. Unable to fight back against a fully-trained Super-Skrull, god-fearing Klara prays for someone to save her and her friends... at which point a tree bursts out of the ground, creating enough of a distraction for the other Runaways to escape their bonds and fight back.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''; Rick prays to God for help when he thinks he's about to die, [[UngratefulBastard than immediately starts hurling verbal abuse and mockery at Him upon miraculously escaping]], as if he somehow gamed the system.

* [[DefiedTrope Blatantly defied]] in [[Music/DeathGrips Death Grips’]] “Beware”, intersecting with BlasphemousBoast:

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Chick Tract|s}}'' "War Zone", Principal Ward, confronted with parents of Westmont students who are angry about the state of the failing school, says he's tried everything, only for things to keep getting worse, and that, "The '''only''' thing I can think of is to... uh, '''pray for a miracle'''" He gets booed off the stands, but this being a Chick tract, prayer and converting students to Christianity ''is'' what [[DeusExMachina miraculously]] gets Westmont back on track.

* In ''Fanfic/GodzillaNewEra'' has one in the finale by widower, Dr. Yuji Shinoda; who was traumatized by the lose of his wife and couldn't prior. In the final battle at Kyoto there are no possible options to stop the Millennian, which will unleash a nuclear doomsday if it isn't stopped. But most important to Yuji, the alien, now the berserk BodyHorror Orga, is trying to get to his daughter and assimilate her. With no other options and remembering what [[SecondLove Yuki]] taught him, he puts his faith in the one being left still attacking and capable of destroying Orga; Godzilla.

* Grimma’s prayer while leading a search-and-rescue mission on a snowy night in Terry Pratchett’s ''Literature/TheBromeliadTrilogy'' is a thing of beauty:
---> Oh, Arnold Bros. (est. 1905), she thought. Dorcas doesn’t believe in you, and I certainly don’t believe in you, but if you could just see your way clear to existing just long enough to find them, we’d all appreciate it very much. And perhaps if you could stop the snow and see us all safely back to the quarry as well, that would be a big help.
* In ''Literature/DeceptionPoint'' when the cast are about to freeze to death (having been trapped on an ice sheet by a group of [[TheDragon Delta force]] soldiers) the female lead comments it probably looks like she's doing this in her internal monologue, but she's actually [[spoiler: attempting to tap out an SOS message in the hope a secret array of microphones might pick it up. It doesn't, but luckily a submarine was passing nearby).]]

** {{Played with}} in the novel ''Literature/GoingPostal''. Once when Moist von Lipwig, con artist turned postmaster, is in dire need of money to repair his post office which has just been burned down, he pretends to a) pray for divine guidance and b) get it before "discovering" his stash of loot from his conman days. Later, when he is in dire straits again, another character semi-sarcastically suggests he should go up to the roof of the Post Office and pray, which he eventually does -- which is the cue some potential allies take that he's serious about wanting to help.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' fifteenth book ''Skin Game'' Harry Dresden doesn't pray precisely to God, but does take an action in full Faith that God's Mysterious Ways will save the day and [[spoiler:revive the shattered broken Sword of Faith. Harry hopes and has faith that Charity Carpenter, wife of [[ThePaladin Knight of the Cross]] Michael Carpenter, and her faith in God's Goodness and Greatness can mend the broken blade, saving her from the two hosts of Fallen Angels and cult of humans aiming to kill her, another man named Waldo Butters, and everyone in the Carpenter house. So, Harry lobs the hilt of the broken blade at Charity and she fumbles it, causing it to fall into the hands of Waldo Butters, who is more Geek than Jewish, but his deep Faith in Right overcoming Wrong, of Good triumphing, of the Sacrifice of One for the sake of others (which he ran into the fray expecting to die but at least stay the assault long enough for help to arrive) does revive the broken blade into the form best representing his ideal for those attributes: A blade of angelic light with a soft ''thrumm'' as it is formed. In short, a ''lightsaber'']]. ArchangelUriel notes later to Harry, it was a culmination of many prayers and acts of Faith that yielded that unexpected but beneficial outcome.

* ''Literature/ThePriestTheScientistAndTheMeteor'' has the priest praying to God to save Earth from the dinosaur-ghost ridden meteor. [[spoiler: It works.]]
* {{Lampshaded}} by Creator/HBeamPiper in the story "A Slave Is a Slave". After a [[StrawmanPolitical strawman liberal]] character has misquoted the Literature/{{Foundation}} line about "the last refuge of the incompetent", the viewpoint character muses that it is true in that "only an incompetent waited until the last resort to use force, and by then it was usually too late to use anything, even prayer."

** Subverted in "[[Scorpion (Part 1)]]". Captain Janeway has TwoRoadsBeforeYou; give up on their quest to go home, or enter a battlefield between two vastly powerful alien species and face death or assimilation. To seek inspiration, she goes to the Leonardo di Vinci holodeck program. Leonardo suggests that Janeway accompany him to a church and they pray for guidance. [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions Janeway politely turns down the offer]], but then has a EurekaMoment -- what if she made [[EnemyMine a deal with the Devil instead]]?

* After watching everyone in her party get wiped out in truly horrendous fashion by goblins and the goblins turn to her, Priestess, well beyond the DespairEventHorizon at this point, prays to the Earth Mother as they close in. Fortunately for her, that's about the time when ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' shows up.
* In TheMovie ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' Kyon is in a world where everything is BroughtDownToNormal and isn't taking it well. He starts calling out to Christ, Buddha, Mohammamed, ''anyone'' to help him. And then Haruhi appears...
* In ''Anime/OnePiece'', during the Skypiea arc, when Eneru's Kingdom Come attack is about to hit Upper Yard, the residents of Skypiea collectively pray for a miracle to save them. At the same moment Luffy disperses Kingdom Come by conducting all of the electricity in the storm cloud through the gold sphere on his arm into his rubber body.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

-->'''Arnold:''' I didn't know you were religious.
-->'''Gerald:''' Neither did I.

-->'''Simba:''' I was seeking counsel from the Great Kings.
-->'''Nala:''' Did they help?
-->'''Simba:''' ''(sigh)'' Silent as stars. My father would never--
-->'''Nala:''' Oh, Simba... You want so much to walk the path expected of you. Perhaps Kovu does ''not''.
-->'''Simba:''' What? How do you know what--?
-->'''Nala:''' ''(giggle)'' I can see them down there as easily as you can. Get to know him and see.

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

* ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' Everett near the end, about to be killed by the Warden, asks God to save him. After being saved, he goes right back to being an atheist, denying that God had any hand in it.
* ''Film/{{Patton}}''. During the Battle of the Bulge the situation is desperate. The Germans are winning and Allied air support is grounded because of the bad weather. Patton calls in an Army chaplain and orders him to write a prayer to ask for good weather so Allied planes can smash the German forces.

-->"What can we do?!"\\

"Then I don't know what to tell you."

-->"I would seriously consider prayer."

-->'''Sheldon''': ''(getting down on his knees)'' Lord, this is Sheldon Cooper. You're good friends with [[TheFundamentalist my mom]]. I know I've spent my life [[HollywoodAtheist denying that you exist]]...
-->'''Howard''': GOT THEM!
-->'''Sheldon''': ''(gets up, still looking up)'' [[HypocriticalHumor AND I WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO]]!!!

* {{Discussed}} in one of ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'''s final episodes. The family is gathered together with pizza after going through several recent cataclysms, most notably the premature birth and miraculous survival of Darlene's baby. Roseanne notes that they should say prayers before eating, rather than always waiting until something bad happens before turning to God.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''
** While most Starfleet members have OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions, [[MagicalNativeAmerican Chakotay]] was an exception, so this trope comes up a couple of times (in "Twisted" and "Cathexis").
** Subverted in "Scorpion, Part One". Captain Janeway has TwoRoadsBeforeYou; give up on their quest to go home, or enter a battlefield between two vastly powerful alien species and face death or assimilation. To seek inspiration she goes to the Leonardo di Vinci holodeck program. Leonardo suggests that Janeway accompany him to a church and they pray for guidance. [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions Janeway politely turns down the offer]], but then has a EurekaMoment -- what if she made a [[EnemyMine deal with the Devil instead?]]
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': The Bajorans are a religious people (it doesn't hurt that their gods turn out to actually exist), though exactly how this plays out varies based on the individual. Kira is usually an ActionGirl, not necessarily given to faith as the first answer for everything, but she'll turn to prayer when all else fails. The most notable example is in "Starship Down", after Sisko is gravely injured and she fears that he may be dying.

---> '''Sam''': Go looking for God? Last I heard you [[RageAgainstTheHeavens wanted to kick God's ass]] [for allowing the Apocalypse to happen].
---> '''Dean''': Prayer: call it the last call of a desperate man.

* One issue of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' has obscure superhero Element Girl DrivenToSuicide because her powers make her look less than human. Since her powers prevent her from killing herself in any of the conventional ways, she finally appeals to the god Ra, who gave her the powers in the first place, to take them back. Ra agrees.

SubTrope of GodzillaThreshold because it is a sign of a desperation and a willingness to try anything. Overlaps with OOCIsSeriousBusiness if the prayer is an atheist.

SubTrope of GodzillaThreshold because it is a sign of a desperation and a willingness to try anything, and of OOCIsSeriousBusiness if the prayer is an atheist.

SubTrope of GodzillaThreshold because it is a sign of a desperation and a willingness to try anything.

If the character issues the prayer as an ultimatum that will determine their belief in God, they're playing ReligiousRussianRoulette. If the character checks "All of the above" for the recipient of their prayer, then it's EmergencyMultifaithPrayer. If the prayer is ''answered'' and [[{{God}} the Man Upstairs]] saves the day, it's DivineIntervention and probably a DeusExMachina, though to be fair it's not out of character considering God is the ultimate BigGood.

* In ''Fanfic/GodzillaNewEra'' has one in the finale by widower, Dr. Yuji Shinoda; who was traumatized by the lose of his wife and couldn't prior. In the final battle at Kyoto with no possible options to stop the Millennian, which will unlease a nuclear doomsday if it isn't stopped. But most important to Yuji, the alien, now the berserk BodyHorror Orga, is trying to get to his daughter and assimilate her. With no other options and remembering what [[SecondLove Yuki]] taught him, he puts his faith in the one being left still attacking and capable of destroying Orga; Godzilla.