“When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans.” (Matt. 6:7)
Expanded Passage: Matthew 6:7-8
My dad used to fill in for vacationing ministers, and whenever he received an invitation to preach somewhere, Mom and I went with him. He is a consummate storyteller and would often go into great detail as he preached. In typical daughter fashion, I’d watch the clock hands scoot closer to noon and listen for the “in closing” tag. One week, when I was especially hungry, I tucked a note into his Bible that said, “Less is more. Lunch is in the oven.”
Fortunately, Dad and I share a sense of humor, so he understood my mostly joking intent. I wanted him to keep the sermon short so we could eat, but Jesus had other (more significant) reasons for teaching his followers to keep their prayers short.
The pagans, Jesus said, would babble in hopes that the sheer volume of their words would capture the attention of their gods. But it wasn’t necessary. Before any of us open our mouths to petition the Lord, he already knows our need.
If we want to pray at length to have communion with our heavenly Father, he welcomes it. But if we babble to be noticed, we’re literally wasting our breath. Less is more when it comes to those prayers. He already knows the needs of our hearts.
Pray with simple faith, not endless babbling.
Bekah Shaffer lives in Kokomo, Indiana, and enjoys endless coffee, scrapbooking, speaking, and planning adventures with her husband, Ryan.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
