Brevity, the Soul of Prayer

“‘God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few’ (Eccl. 5:2) . . . So let us turn to consider the fool at his worship. Religiosity loves to bloviate before the Lord. Religious man loves his wordy prayers . . . Our Lord prayed all night sometimes . . . (Luke 6:12). We are told to ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess. 5:17), and to be devoted to prayer (Col. 4:2). However, our introductory scriptural lessons in prayer clearly emphasize brevity. Being a prayer warrior — waht an awful phrase for a wonderful thing! — is not the same as chattering, glibness, garrulousness, and so on. Believers need to learn to offer few words first. This requires composing the thoughts. The fact that fools are wordy in prayer is not a law altered just because the words in Jesus’ name, amen are attached to their prayers. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He gave them a very simple and brief prayer. We are wiser than all that, and so our words gush forth. But He knew the heart of man, and so He attached an express warning. ‘But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Mt. 6:7). ‘Gee,’ we wonder, ‘what does that mean?'” (Joy at the End of the Tether, p 61).