Pray Short and to the Point.
“My friends,” said Eld. Knapp, “pray short and to the point. Ask for what you feel you must have, and then stop. Remember that God knows all, and needs not your long prayers for information. “All the Bible specimens are short. Our Lord’s prayer, one of the longest, can be uttered well in a minute. Most of these are of one wish, in a single breath. Blind Bartimæus begging by the wayside near Jericho, cried out, ‘Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.’ The poor publican smote on his breast, and said, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!’ Ten lepers all at once lifted up their voices, and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’ “Such are a few of the short prayers in the New Testament. “Would a long, prosy prayer, think you, have availed Peter, sinking in the sea? Oh! no. Peter was in earnest, and prayed in three words, ‘Lord, save me!’ Why, I verily believe that if Peter had prayed as long as some of you, he would have been fifty feet under water before he got help. From the days of the ancient Pharisees to their likes in the present, long, cold, formal prayers have been an abomination unto God.”—Sel.