Not Babbling Empty Words
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt. 6:7 And in praying do not babble empty words as the
Gentiles do; for they suppose that in their multiplicity of
words they will be heard. (8) Therefore do not be like
them, for your Father knows the things that you have need of
before you ask Him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...[the Lord] also taught us not to "babble empty words as
the Gentiles do; for they suppose that in their multiplicity
of words they will be heard." The expression "multiplicity of
words" in Greek is used to describe the monotonous and
repetitious sound that a stammering person makes. Some people
repeat the same words monotonously in their prayers. This
kind of prayer has sound only; it has no meaning whatsoever.
When you stand beside such a person and listen to his prayer,
it is as if you are standing by a stream listening to the
repetitious and monotonous sound of water tumbling against
the rocks. They repeat the same words over and over again.
They suppose that their prayers will be heard through much
repetition. But this kind of prayer is useless; it is not at
all effective, and we should not pray in that kind of way.
"Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows the
things that you have need of before you ask Him." This shows
us that whether or not our prayers will be answered depends
on our attitude before God; it also depends on our need.
Whether or not prayers are answered depends not on the
multiplicity of our words. If we pray for what we do not
need, we will not be heard even if we have more words. If our
asking is not out of necessity, it is greed and vain asking.
God is happy to give us what we need. But He does not want to
satisfy the desires that our self craves. Some have said that
since God knows what we need, we do not have to ask anymore.
This is a foolish word. The purpose of our prayer is not to
inform God of something but to show Him our trust, our faith,
our dependence, and our wish. Therefore, it is right that we
pray. But when we pray, our desire should exceed our words,
and our faith should exceed our words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from the Recovery
Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from "The Prayer Ministry of
the Church" in the Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 22, pp.
160-161. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA
Please visit us at www.emanna.com
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