Matt 6:1-18. How long do I pray?
A couple of years ago, my wife and I saw the movie ampldquoWar Roomamprdquo. The war room was really a prayer room to fight in the war against Satan. When you pray, said Jesus, ampldquogo into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseenamprdquo (6). Thatamprsquos what the movie was about and it impressed us so much that we made our own war room in our apartment. When our assistant mokja saw it he made a sign for us just like the movieamprsquos title and he put it on the door to the room.
My wife and I pray in there. We each have a place divided by a screen. We have pens and paper because just like in the movie we write our prayers. Unlike the movie, though, I donamprsquot stick mine on the wall. I have them in a bundle like flashcards.
At first my prayers were rather judgemental such as, ampldquoPlease heal this manamprsquos alcoholism so heamprsquoll be nicer to his wife.amprdquo The more I prayed, though, and the more I listened to my pastoramprsquos sermons, I started to change my prayers. Now I pray for the alcoholic manamprsquos salvation because, since he doesnamprsquot confess any faith, thatamprsquos far more important.
As I learn of changes in peopleamprsquos lives, of prayers answered, I give thanks and write a new prayer for them. I am always praying for the same people as well as adding new people to pray for. When I learn of someoneamprsquos healing, for instance, and they havenamprsquot announced it, I tell others in our chatroom so that they can praise God and take heart in their own praying. One of our members had a serious eye problem that could have led to blindness. Many of us prayed for him. The Lord healed him, and when we learned of that, we felt such joy and gave the glory to our Lord!
God listens to our prayers. I believe he likes to hear us praying because, in part, it shows our love for him, our trust in him, and our acknowledgement that we cannot change anything by our own power.
When I first started praying I never knew how long I was supposed to pray. Many pastors at church pray for many minutes. I confess that I lose their point. When Pastor Kim showed the video of a little boy complaining to his grandfather about the length of his prayer before eating supper, I understood because I often feel the same way. The boy told his grandfather that he had upset God with such a long prayer because he had made the supper cold.
The Lordamprsquos Prayer, given to us by Jesus in todayamprsquos passage, takes 25 seconds to say. Thatamprsquos my guide when I pray for others. I confess that I often go way over that limit when I pray at the end of mokjang, but I try to stick to 25 seconds when I say grace, thanks to the little boyamprsquos comment.
Application: Keep my prayers to 30 seconds but be open to the Spiritamprsquos leading to something longer on occasion.
Lord, help me limit my praying to a short time but with sincerity and fervour. Let me not babble, listening to myself instead of to you.
