Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few. —Ecclesiastes 5:2
I have often said, “Half of prayer is waiting for an answer,” yet as Solomon notes, we often speak an abundance of hasty, even rash, words when we pray. “God, please do this, please fix that, heal them, forgive me for that, see You tomorrow, amen!” it often goes. I must admit, I need to continually remind myself to wait for God to speak in my prayer time. Far too many times, I am guilty of “machine gun” prayers, mowing down my list of needs in a rapid burst of words without a moment’s waiting for what God might want to say to me. So how do we fix this tendency? It may seem odd to some, but I have found that the best way for me, in light of the fact that prayer is talking to God, is to treat my prayer time like a conversation between two friends. I say good morning to the Lord, and sometimes I ask Him how He is today. Then I laugh at myself because I know how He is—He’s great! But this simple task of incorporating normal speak into my prayer life has helped me stay focused and, what is more important, real.
Solomon’s intent is obvious here. We are to be respectful and attentive when addressing the Lord. But the truth is, we often lapse into hasty and rash prayer times though we don’t mean to at all. We love Him and we want to pray, but we’re busy and our time talking to Him gets pushed aside and intruded on by everyday life. So the time we do spend in “communion” communication, where there is actually a connect on both ends, needs to be fruitful.
If you’re like me and frequently send up prayer flares, slow down and listen. Treat prayer like a conversation with a dear friend seated across the table from you. As I said, I have used this as a tool in my own prayer life. The funny thing is, sometimes when I say, “Good morning, God. How are you?” and then laugh, I sense in my spirit that He is laughing too.
Give your prayer time “time”—time to listen and converse with a God who loves talking with His children!
Excerpt from “Body Builders” now available on Amazon.
