When Jesus’s disciples asked for instruction on prayer, he warned them of a common temptation—the temptation to think that prayer depends upon saying just the right words or a certain number of words. “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,” he said, “for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).
When we pray to God, our foremost concern should not be the quantity of our words or even the quality of our words. Rather, our concern should be the purity of our hearts and the earnestness of our souls. As Hannah More says, “Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul.”
God cares little for our eloquence but cares a great deal for our humility and sincerity. When you pray, whether privately or with others, it is far better to pray with the innocence and simplicity of a child than to pray with the arrogance and eloquence of a Pharisee.
