How Jesus Simplified Prayer, and how we often Overcomplicate It
A few years ago in college, I was in a late night prayer gathering with other students. We were on our knees, many of us very emotional, praying for each other and the school. We were all taking turns praying out loud, affirming each other vocally with a passionate “Yes Lord” or “Hallelujah”.
Then it was my turn. With tears in my eyes, I prayed a bold prayer for spiritual deliverance, revival, and a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on campus. On the outside, it looked beautiful and Spirit-filled.
But the God who sees all things, inside and outside, did not see my prayer the same way my friends saw it. God knew that while the students before me were praying, I was thinking the whole time what I was going to say, how I was going to say it, and how emotional I was going to be, paying almost no attention to their prayers. He also knew how proud of myself I was after praying, and spent little attention to the people after me praying. He knew how much of an ego boost I got in that moment, looking like a “strong and inspirational Christian” in front of my friends.
Outside of group settings, I can also think of times in personal prayer I have fallen into the same trap. There have been times when I’ve prayed for someone in a crisis to be supernaturally healed, but I didn’t feel satisfied simply praying for healing. I felt this need to use poetic vocabulary and to pray it over and over again to show God how serious I was.
Why do I do this?
I can only speak for myself. I know there are many Christians who are sincerely passionate, emotional, and talkative in prayer, and that is 100% okay. There is nothing wrong with praying long prayers and being bold in speech, so long as it is genuine. But I personally feel like I have often made prayer a performance, and based on my conversations with several other Christians, I don’t seem to be alone in that issue.
Jesus is not impressed with how “good” a prayer sounds
In Matthew 6, Jesus addresses two flawed ways the people in His culture would often pray. He first addresses the Jewish leaders, who would often pray publicly, seeking attention. Jesus rebukes this, and calls His followers to instead pray privately and in secret. (Matthew 6:5-6)
I don’t think there is anything wrong with group prayer, but I do think it’s interesting how often Christians in America love to publicize their prayer gatherings. Isn’t this the exact opposite of what Jesus is commanding us in Matthew 6?
Next, Jesus addresses the flawed methods of the Gentiles, noting how drawn out their prayers are, and how they feel they’ll be heard for repetition. Again, is it wrong to pray lengthy prayers? Absolutely not, Jesus Himself would pray for hours and the Bible records lengthy prayers. Again, the difference is the reason behind it and how sincere it is.
Jesus assures His disciples in Matthew 6 that God already knows what we need before we ask. If we believe this, then we should pray from the heart and not feel the need to impress or “explain our case” before God. We shouldn’t have to worry about using “Christianese” vocabulary, and making sure our prayer is at least longer than 10 seconds.
Written prayer is just as valuable as prayer in the moment
Considering the Psalms, the longest book in the Bible, is a collection of prayers and hymns, and is the most quoted book in the New Testament, it is safe to say we don’t have to “improvise” our prayers or always come up with something “new”.
Praying out something from Scripture or a liturgy can honestly be so refreshing and powerful in our union with God. Also, taking the time to write out your prayer can be valuable.
Don’t feel pressured
My hope is to encourage Christians to not overcomplicate prayer with feel the need to “sound good”, say something “original”, or pray out loud for lengthy periods of time. Pray in secrecy, humility, and sincerity. God already knows and He wants to hear from the real, authentic you.