Do You Pray Long Enough?
Prayer. We all know we should do it. But most of us feel guilty when the topic is brought up because we just don’t do it. One of the reasons that we don’t do it is that there’s not enough time, or at least we say. “Prayer takes time,” we say to ourselves. Long periods of time. There’s too much to pray for. The task seems overwhelming. So we just don’t do it.
My purpose in this post is not to give a comprehensive theology of prayer, nor is it to speak of every aspect of prayer possible. Instead, I hope that one specific Bible passage on prayer will show us how Jesus teaches us to pray in a simple and “doable way." So if you feel overwhelmed at the mention of prayer, I hope this post will encourage you to pray more prayers that are short, meaningful, and specific.
Many of us know Matthew 5-7 as the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is teaching his followers about following him, meanwhile angering the religious leaders of the day by overturning many of their Old Testament interpretations along with some of their religious practices. During this teaching to his followers, he talks about prayer.
As we zoom in on 6:7-13, let’s remind ourselves of what we said at the beginning regarding one of the reasons we don’t pray: “We are too busy. The task is big and overwhelming. It takes a long time to pray.” Check out what Jesus says in 6:7: “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Notice two things about this verse. First, Jesus points out that there are such things in prayers as “empty phrases.” These are words and phrases that add length to our prayers but are spoken without thought or purpose. The most frequent empty phrase is probably, “Dear God, thank you for this day…,” the common opener in most prayers. It’s not that this phrase is a bad thing to pray. Rather, prayer is a meaningful thing. We don’t pile up empty phrases in conversations with a close friend. Neither should we with our Father. Say only what you mean. Second, somehow we got the idea that longer prayers are better (“for they think that they will be heard for their many words” 6:7). For some reason we easily get this urge to keep our prayers going, even if we have nothing more to say. We haven’t yet reached the minimum time for a decent prayer; so, we pile on empty phrases as we think of something to say next. But Jesus is saying that longer prayer isn’t better prayer. In fact, it’s often full of purposeless phrases.
Notice the reason that Jesus gives for not piling up empty phrases in prayers: “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (6:8). The length of your prayer isn’t what makes it “work.” God doesn’t even need us to explain all of our situations to him. He already knows what we need. Prayer from our perspective is an expression of our dependence upon God. We need him. So we pray to him, expressing our faith in his control over and care of our lives. So, from Jesus’ teaching here, we learn this important truth: meaningful prayer does not have to do with the length of prayer.
Jesus presses this point even further in the very next verses. After teaching his followers that meaningful prayer doesn’t have to do with the length, he goes on to give an example of what meaningful prayer looks like in 6:9-13 by praying a short prayer himself. He starts off by saying, “Pray then like this” (6:9). In other words, here is an example of the kind of prayer that is meaningful. He says ten short phrases that are to the point and lack any amount of clutter or empty phrases. It takes about 20 seconds to speak through Jesus’ exemplary prayer.
So, brothers and sisters who desire to pray more often, be encouraged! The value or meaning of your prayers is not wrapped up in their length or verbiage. In fact, when Jesus said to pray “like this,” he packed meaning and truth into a mere twenty seconds. God wants to hear from you. And you do have time. When you hear about a request from a friend, take 10 seconds to pray for it right then. When you wake up in the morning, take 10 seconds to pray for God’s help today. When you walk outside and are overwhelmed by the beauty of creation, take 10 seconds to praise and thank God. Pray short, meaningful prayers all throughout your day. And leave out the empty phrases. Jesus’ teaching and example show us how to pray constantly, meaningfully, and specifically.