So Let Your Words Be Few

God is not impressed with eloquent, long, or repetitious prayers. He wants our prayers to be spoken before Him, heartfelt, thought-out, short, direct, and to-the-point. He does not want them to be hasty, memorized, wordy, manipulative, and ostentatious.

"And when you pray,

do not keep on babbling like pagans,

for they think they will be heard

because of their many words."

Matthew 6:7 (NIV)

"Do not be quick with your mouth,

do not be hasty in your heart

to utter anything before God.

God is in heaven

and you are on earth,

so let your words be few."

Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NIV)

However, even though God wants our prayers to be short, He wants us to pray frequently, continually, and on all occasions.

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions

with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Ephesians 6:8a (NIV)

"Pray continually."

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV)

God loves to hear from us. He does not clock the length of our prayers and evaluate our speech. He searches our hearts and knows our true, innermost desires. He just wants us to draw near to Him.