“When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” Matthew 6:7
How long should our prayers be? Sometimes in church it seems we stand for a long time during the prayers and hope they would end quickly. Maybe you like to keep your prayers short when you go to bed at night. Does God prefer long prayers or short ones?
If we use Jesus as our example, we find several different answers. When Jesus prayed before feeding the 5,000, he spoke a short prayer of perhaps twenty words. But then we read that sometimes Jesus went to a quiet place and prayed all night. We know that when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed so long that the disciples kept falling asleep while waiting for him to finish. Jesus prayed some long prayers and some short ones.
The great reformer Martin Luther once said, “If I fail to spend three hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without it.” Can you imagine praying three hours every day? That is a long time!
Think about how long we talk with our parents or friends. Sometimes we have a lot to talk about, like when we get back from an exciting vacation, or after a close ball game. We want to share all the details with our friends so they can enjoy it as much as we did. It’s the very same when we talk to God. There may be times we have a lot to say and times we have only a little to say. When Peter tried to walk on the water and began to sink, he prayed to Jesus who was only a few feet in front of him. Was it a long prayer? Peter’s prayer had only three words: “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30).
The length of our prayers makes little difference. The important thing is that our heart is in our prayers; that we are earnestly speaking to and listening to God. If we come to the Lord with our thanks, our needs, and our praises, God will listen regardless of how long or how short the prayer is. In fact, Jesus once said that we should not be like some who feel that they will be heard because they use a lot of words. God loves to hear us talk to him. We can do it today with a few words or with a long prayer.
In the early morning, when the sun beams bright,
Shine around our pathway, scattering the night,
Jesus, gentle Savior, hear our earnest prayer;
Bless all of Your children, keep us in Your care. Amen.
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