When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Matthew 6:5-7 NLT
When I was a child growing up in church, we had “Wednesday night prayer meeting” as was common in many churches. As I grew older, the church grew in ways that enabled us to have a midweek program for children while the adults prayed. I really enjoyed the new kids’ program, but I have to admit – the prayer meeting had been fascinating but intimidating at the same time. People shared requests and then others would pray for those needs.
The church was not a big church, about 125 people on Sunday morning – and Wednesday night only drew about two dozen. They were mostly the same ones, and a few of them prayed awe-inspiring prayers, to my mind. The volume, the words, the passion, their mannerisms were mesmerizing. One man, “Brother Merritt,” would punctuate his loud prayers with several “AH, LORD GOD!’s” per sentence. A sweet grandmother would repeat more names for God than the average person knew existed in her prayers. Most of the people who prayed had a distinctive “prayer voice” that didn’t sound much like the voice they used after the service was ended. I often peeked during prayers to make sure I knew who was praying.
All of these were wonderful people who really loved Jesus and lived their lives in a way that demonstrated it. Their influence on me was wonderful in most ways, but these prayer meetings convinced me that praying, at least praying aloud in public, was something I was certainly not equipped to do, and likely never would be.
Of course, I eventually learned that praying authentically is about the heart, not the words. Do you sometimes feel the pressure to pray with impressive vocabulary or eloquent phrases, fearing your prayers might not be "good enough"? That is a common thought for many Christians and may come from several sources: comparison with others, fear of others, desire to impress God. But Jesus makes it clear. God is looking for prayer that comes from a sincere heart, and is simple, not prayed for others to hear and evaluate. We talk to God humbly, realizing He already knows us. We are talking to our Father, and He loves to hear from His children, no matter who they are or how they do it.
- Are there any false assumptions or beliefs that hinder you from talking effectively and authentically with your Father? Remember, He just wants to hear from you.