not have a prayer

English[edit]

Implies that not even divine intervention could save the person.

To have no chance or possibility, usually in the face of peril or adversity.
When the lights went dark in their flooded compartment, the submariners knew that they did not have a prayer.
- 1995, John Schwarzwelder, The Simpsons, season 6, episode 14 "Bart's Comet", spoken by Reverend Lovejoy (Harry Shearer):
  It's all over, people! We don't have a prayer!