Prayer

“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

No doubt we have all found ourselves suddenly feeling guilty over wondering when someone offering public prayer is going to cease, instead of being concentrated on and in agreement with what they are praying. During such times, we can find true comfort and assurance in what Jesus himself had to say about long winded public prayers; “And, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. ..go into your room, close the door and pray to your father, who is unseen. Then, your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. …do not keep babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 5: 6-7) According to Jesus himself, public prayer can and should be short and to the point. He then, as an example, offered us the most power packed and concise prayer ever – The Lord’s Prayer, which we say to this day.

It is certainly not our place to ever presume to know one’s true motives in offering long meandering prayers, but isn’t it obvious that such prayers rarely edify the majority? Certainly there are some isolated examples of very long prayers in Scripture. Solomon offered one on the day the Temple of God was dedicated, and under the circumstances, it was very appropriate. And, Jesus offered a lengthy prayer for His disciples and the believers that would follow, just before He went to the cross, but in truth it was a prayer between Him and the Father – not a public prayer. But, such prayers are the exception – not the rule. Elisha offered a one sentence prayer, when he wanted his servant to realize that they were not alone, but surrounded by a heavenly army. King Hezekiah moved God to destroy 185,000 Assyrian soldiers through a five sentence prayer. And, the Lord’s Prayer is accomplished in six sentences.

The fact is, God already knows the desires and thoughts of our hearts, and He really does not need to hear them through our prayers. Prayer actually falls into the same category as the Sabbath, which Jesus revealed was intended for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Endless good things happen through prayer. We find our place in life through the reverent posture of prayer – God is God and we are not. We are also challenged to sift through our needs, wants and desires confronting ourselves regarding which are valid and worthy of prayer, and which are not. We trust God through prayer to make the final decisions regarding which requests are good for us or those we pray for, and which are not. It is medicine to our souls.

The most important thing to understand about prayer is that it is how we bond and commune with our Father, and it is the only reliable way for us to remain God-centered instead of self-centered. And, for this reason alone the blessings never end giving us good reason to

“Pray without ceasing.”