Public Prayer
The prayers offered in public should be short and to the point.
God does not require us to make the season of worship tedious by
lengthy petitions. Christ did not enforce upon His disciples wearisome
ceremonies and long prayers. “When thou prayest,” He said, “thou
shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of
men.” [
Matthew 6:5
.]
The Pharisees had stated hours for prayer; and when, as often
came to pass, they were abroad at the appointed time, they would
pause wherever they might be,—perhaps in the street or in the mar-
ketplace, amid the hurrying throng of men,—and there in a loud voice
rehearse their formal prayers. Such worship, offered merely for self-
glorification, called forth unsparing rebuke from Jesus. Yet he did
not discountenance public prayer; for He Himself prayed with His
disciples and with the multitude. But He impressed upon His disciples
the thought that their public prayers should be short.
A few minutes is long enough for any ordinary public petition.
There may be instances where supplication is in a special manner
indited by the Spirit of God. The yearning soul becomes agonized,
and groans after God. The spirit wrestles as did Jacob, and will not be
at rest without the special manifestation of the power of God. At such
times it may be fitting that the petition be of greater length.
Many tedious prayers are offered, which are more like giving the
Lord a lecture than presenting to Him a request. It would be better if
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those offering such prayers would confine themselves to the one that
Christ taught His disciples to offer. Long prayers are tiring to those
who hear, and do not prepare the people to listen to the instruction that
is to follow.
It is often because secret prayer is neglected that long, tedious
prayers are offered in public. Let not ministers go over in their petitions
a week of neglected duties, hoping to atone for their neglect and to
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