10/18/2021
When we pray we should simply say what we mean, and mean what we say. Unlike a writer who might get paid according to the number of words he writes, or their timeliness, God gives us no additional credit for the number of words we pray each day, nor for the number of minutes spent in prayer. Gods wants to hear what we have to say, and for us to say it sincerely, and directly. There is no benefit to chanting, or repeating ourselves; when it comes to prayer, a one minute prayer from the heart carries with it more strength than a one hour prayer recited because we have read, or been told, that we should spend more time praying. Sitting silently listening to, or for, God carries much more weight if we do so from our heart.
““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.”
Matthew 6:7 ESV
The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept.” And yet it speaks volumes to us, and touches us deeply. Is there a prayer that we have prayed that carries with it the same revelation of our hearts? Could it possibly be these four words, “I love you Lord.”? When they have been prayed with all sincerity, and from the depths of our heart, mind, soul, and with all our strength, then no other words have ever meant more. Perhaps there are others you can recall; how about when a parent has prayed… “Father, heal my child.” , or someone caught up in deep sadness simply prays “Jesus...” in total surrender.
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
1 John 5:14-15 ESV
God knows our hearts, and He knows what we need before we utter the first words of prayer, but there is also a message in words that have gone unspoken, so even though the Lord intimately knows our heart, we are meant to say the words that are born there in prayer as a way of joining with Him.
A man can love his children, but if he never tells them, then even though he does many loving things for them the power of those three words is lost, and their existence remains in doubt. We are meant to pray the spoken word. Our ears, and God’s ears, need to hear the utterances of our hearts, but not spoken out of duty, nor in an attempt to impress Him, or even to meet some imagined number, or time goal.
The eastern churches have a prayer called the prayer of the heart and it goes like this “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner“, and the Catholic Church prays a prayer of confession with similar words, “Forgive me father, for I have sinned”. Every Church has a short prayer that gets quickly to what we are asking God, but do we pray them from our hearts, and not just as a memorized series of words whose meaning has escaped them?
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Proverbs 4:23 ESV
Do we even have words for every moment? When we are moved beyond words to feelings that are too deep to speak how can we convey what is on our hearts? We do so with the help of our tears, and the intercession of the Holy Spirit. Listen as scripture tells us how we speak our desire with vocalizations that extend our inadequate language…
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 ESV
So we are meant to pray, but words are simply tools of the heart. What boils up from deep within us, and is verbalized in language, groans, sighs, tears, laughter, singing, the ripping of clothes, the sounding of horns, or any other expression from the heart, these are what is important. It is not the frequency per say, or their duration, though God welcomes our frequent prayers of any length if they are sincere… no, our prayers should be to the point, whatever that might be… praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness, or just telling Him about something wonderful we have experienced. They should simply emanate from our heart, and conform to His will.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing our prayers, and answering them. Thank you for every form of prayerful expression that bubbles up from within our hearts, minds, souls, and is offered in conformance to your will. Thank you for Jesus who taught us to pray, and for your Holy Spirit that prays for us when we are at a loss for words, and have only tears, shouts, or melodies springing forth. Help us in our belief, faith, and sincerity as we pray. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who knows our hearts, and hears our prayers. Praised be your name Father for hearing every word we offer, sigh that carries your breath with it, and tear that releases the essence of our desires. Today we pray forgive us Father, we love you Lord, lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil, and other short utterances of our hearts. Hear our hearts, and answer us as we fall silent in holy anticipation.
“Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;”
1 Kings 8:22-23 ESV
Rich Forbes