Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US black) the knees.

1870		Lincoln Co. Herald (Troy, MO) 11 Aug. We seized upon the stubborn ruffian, intending to make him ‘get on his prayer handles,’ to use an expression common with us: .
1877		N.Y. Herald 19 June 5/2: Monaghan [...] took an active interest in geting Mckenna down on his ‘prayer bones’ when the ‘neophyte’ was initiated.
1879		Dly Intelligencer (Seatle, WA) 31 Aug. 1/3: His reverence dropped on his prayer handles and sent his supplication off.
1883		Wkly Graphic (Lirksville, MO) 12 Jan. 1/7: Just as she was about to place the [milking] pail between her prayer-bones...
1890		St John’s Herald (Apache Co., AZ) 1 May 1/4: Gettin’ down on my prayer bones and taffying the Lord up.
1893		Indiana State Sentinel (Indianapolis, IN) 30 Aug. 11/3: ‘I’d thought as how he was goin’ right down on his prayer-handles’’.
1900		Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 9 Nov. 12/2: Albright settled back upon his prayer-bones.
1910		Morn. Examiner (Ogden, UT) 22 May 4/1: Get down on your prayer bones and admit it, all ye humble, deluded residents.
1914		G.A. England ‘Rural Locutions of Maine and Northern New Hampshire’ in DN IV:ii 78: prayer-handles, n. Knees.
1920		Ogden Standard-Examiner 14 May 5/1: My ‘prayer-bones’ [...] develop an annoying burning unless i use a small kneeling pad.
1943		R.L. Bellem ‘Dissolve Shot’ Dan Turner – Hollywood Detective May 🌐 I got down on my prayer bones; felt for the brunette Conroy quail’s pulse.
1944		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 13 May 6B: The sack draped to his brace of pryer knobs like a Tweed Boy in righteous kilts.
1944		‘Jiver’s Bible’ in D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive.
1965–6		in DARE.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad.

1. (UK Und.) a small piece of stolen lead, which can be carried in a pocket (cf. bible n. (1)).

1781		G. Parker View of Society II 63: To fly the blue pigeon is cutting off lead from what they call a Prayer Book up to a Bible.
1789		G. Parker Life’s Painter 175: They will out chif sometimes, that is, their knife, and cut a hundred weight of lead, which they rap round their bodies next to the skin, this they call a Bible, and what they steal and put in their pockets they call a prayer-book.

2. (US) a pack of rolling papers.

1936		R.F. Adams Cowboy Lingo 206: One cowboy, in speaking of another rolling a smoke, said ‘He jerked a new leaf out of his prayer book an’ commenced to bundle up a new life of Bull Durham’.
1944		R.F. Adams Western Words (1968) 237/1: prayer book. What the cowboy calls his book of cigarette papers.

3. Ruff’s Guide to the Turf, the racing man’s ‘Bible’.

1909

(ref. to 1870) J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.

(US black) the hands.

1944

D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 145: Prayer dukes [...] the knees [sic].

(Irish) a convent.

1982

(con. 1930s–50s) E. Mac Thomáis Janey Mack, Me Shirt is Black 104: The convent is the prayer factory.

(US gang) a game of dice, a crap game.

1918		B. Hall ‘En l’air!’ 95: [W]e played poker, bridge, and a few good old ‘prayer meetings’ as the dice games were called.
1949		H. Ellson Duke 113: The boys were having a little prayer meeting when I came in. I didn’t have no mind for dice so I didn’t get in on it.

a phr. used to typify an old maid.

1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.