In studying the prayers of the Bible something struck me as odd. Doing a count of the words, most of them were 250 or less. Of 222 prayers in the Bible I saw 10 were over 250.
10. That means 212 were 240 or less in Words.
What does that mean?
Do the longer ones get answered faster?
Hannah prayed a long prayer for gratitude for a son after all the years she asked and pleaded with God.
Hababkkuk prayed a long prayer for Revival.
Daniel for forgiveness and fulfillment of prophecy.
Solomon at the Dedication of the Temple.
The longest was a confession of sins by Israel in the book of Nehemiah.
Now what's the point of this? Many times we hold prayer as something unattainable, otherworldly.
Yet in the Bible few of the recorded prayers were more than 50 words.
Indeed the ones requesting immediate action were sometimes 20 to 30 words/.
In all the Bible prayer is taught, in all the Church and through out the history of Christianity prayer is revered, it is encouraged, it is required.
Yet we teach it as a mystical, hours long process that we must beg and plead with God for hours.
That is not true. Prayer is a heart thing.
At no time should prayer be flippant, disrespectful, nor should it be presumptuous.
Prayer is a heart attitude.
Just for brevity sake I am going to use a couple from the New Testament.
Luk 17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
Luk 17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
Act 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
They didn't bow down and cover their faces, and do a whole pageantry of things. These people asked a question of God. That was a prayer.
It is a heart thing.
None of these are long flowery filled speeches.
None of these are anything more than a conversation with God.
Period.
That's it.
A prayer is a conversation with God.
He says bring your petitions to God
1Jn_5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
He says to come unto Him with all of our cares and concerns.
At no time does He say that we must say the right words, phrase it just exactly right.
Some of the greatest prayers in the Bible are Lord Help me.
In Most of the prayers the prayees didn't have time to say a whole lot.
The thief on the cross.
Peter as he sank in the water.
David as he faced Goliath.
Many say I don't know what to say.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The Spirit shall teach you what you should pray.
Not only does the Spirit intercede for us, He also teaches us what we should pray.
Do not fear when you pray of saying the wrong words, or of the ridicule of men. For God Himself promises to show you what to pray for, as the Spirit intercedes for you.
Once again, God does it all for us.
Have you ever prayed in the Spirit? I have and it surprised me. I was praying in the shower, yes a lot of my thinking, singing, praying is in the shower.
I was praying, talking out loud and it just started bursting forth from my lips in words and things that I would never say out loud. Pleadings and arguments and debates that I personally would never use in my prayers.
The true child of God shall have the Spirit of God pray with them, intercede for them, and teach them and yes all at the same time.
Prayer is not mystical incantations, Prayer is not cerebral, prayer is not a burden.
Prayer is a privilege to go before the Father, it is a right that we have acquired through Christ and His Sacrifice.
Prayer is something that is so simple to do, but when you realize that you are talking to the God of the Universe, the Creator of all, then when that awe inspiring reality truly hits you, you will know how to pray.
For those of us who don't fully understand prayer, or why God would even want to talk to us, we must rely on the Spirit to teach us.
10. That means 212 were 240 or less in Words.
What does that mean?
Do the longer ones get answered faster?
Hannah prayed a long prayer for gratitude for a son after all the years she asked and pleaded with God.
Hababkkuk prayed a long prayer for Revival.
Daniel for forgiveness and fulfillment of prophecy.
Solomon at the Dedication of the Temple.
The longest was a confession of sins by Israel in the book of Nehemiah.
Now what's the point of this? Many times we hold prayer as something unattainable, otherworldly.
Yet in the Bible few of the recorded prayers were more than 50 words.
Indeed the ones requesting immediate action were sometimes 20 to 30 words/.
In all the Bible prayer is taught, in all the Church and through out the history of Christianity prayer is revered, it is encouraged, it is required.
Yet we teach it as a mystical, hours long process that we must beg and plead with God for hours.
That is not true. Prayer is a heart thing.
At no time should prayer be flippant, disrespectful, nor should it be presumptuous.
Prayer is a heart attitude.
Just for brevity sake I am going to use a couple from the New Testament.
Luk 17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
Luk 17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
Act 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
They didn't bow down and cover their faces, and do a whole pageantry of things. These people asked a question of God. That was a prayer.
It is a heart thing.
None of these are long flowery filled speeches.
None of these are anything more than a conversation with God.
Period.
That's it.
A prayer is a conversation with God.
He says bring your petitions to God
1Jn_5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
He says to come unto Him with all of our cares and concerns.
At no time does He say that we must say the right words, phrase it just exactly right.
Some of the greatest prayers in the Bible are Lord Help me.
In Most of the prayers the prayees didn't have time to say a whole lot.
The thief on the cross.
Peter as he sank in the water.
David as he faced Goliath.
Many say I don't know what to say.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The Spirit shall teach you what you should pray.
Not only does the Spirit intercede for us, He also teaches us what we should pray.
Do not fear when you pray of saying the wrong words, or of the ridicule of men. For God Himself promises to show you what to pray for, as the Spirit intercedes for you.
Once again, God does it all for us.
Have you ever prayed in the Spirit? I have and it surprised me. I was praying in the shower, yes a lot of my thinking, singing, praying is in the shower.
I was praying, talking out loud and it just started bursting forth from my lips in words and things that I would never say out loud. Pleadings and arguments and debates that I personally would never use in my prayers.
The true child of God shall have the Spirit of God pray with them, intercede for them, and teach them and yes all at the same time.
Prayer is not mystical incantations, Prayer is not cerebral, prayer is not a burden.
Prayer is a privilege to go before the Father, it is a right that we have acquired through Christ and His Sacrifice.
Prayer is something that is so simple to do, but when you realize that you are talking to the God of the Universe, the Creator of all, then when that awe inspiring reality truly hits you, you will know how to pray.
For those of us who don't fully understand prayer, or why God would even want to talk to us, we must rely on the Spirit to teach us.
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