Lesson Three • The Wording of Prayer
Devotion 3: Thinking You Are Heard
Pastor John Carter
“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
Yesterday, we looked at the first part of this verse. Today we are going to look at the later part of this verse. We walked through the idea of praying empty words or words of ritual and how God does not desire us to pray in this manner. The latter part of this verse expounds on that idea, “They think they will be heard for their many words.” In your mind, what do you think of when you consider that last phrase?
I cannot help but think of a church potluck. When I was a growing boy, I was always hungry. I would go to grab a plate and then someone would say, “Hey, let us pray before we eat.” As I scanned the room, I would just beg that no one call on “Bob.” I wanted anybody but Bob (Bob is a fictional character, but you will get my point). Sure enough, Bob was called on to pray for the blessing on the meal and 45 mins later, with a full sermon along with an altar call, we finally get to eating a meal. What could have been a simple, “Jesus, thank you for this food! Amen,” turned into a full-on dissertation of the end times or whatever was preached prior to the potluck. I can literally remember thinking, “Did not we just have a church message; why are we doing this again?” I do not know if this resembles something you may have experienced in your life. It probably felt longer than it actually was because I was really hungry. I get that, in the mind of a hungry child, what was probably just five minutes, just extended out to feel like 45 minutes.
I cannot help but think that sometimes we do this as adults as well. The aspect of being patient when we pray is not often talked about. Just as impatient as I was to eat when the prayer was horribly long-winded, we as adults can find ourselves in the same boat as the hungry child. When we really need something and we pray earnestly over and over again the same prayer, we can be uncertain if God even hears us. So, we do it again just to make sure He got the memo. It becomes the “little hungry boy that wants to eat” syndrome just in adult form. Sometimes, it even gets us to start doubting God Himself. Since it seems God is not answering me, He did not hear me; therefore, He must not care about me. He must be angry with me. We can wonder, “Is God even real?”
Solomon wrote these words in Ecclesiastes 5:2, “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.”
It is said a little differently in Proverbs 10:19, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
This is not saying not to pray. This is saying to be intentional about what you are praying for or what you are praying about. Asking God to give you a new car so you can be cool is a little different than asking God to heal a broken aspect of your life. Matthew 6:7 is a verse that is leading up to a very serious aspect of prayer and petitioning God. Take some time and consider the things you pray for.