November 2________________________________________
When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. -Matthew 6:7(NLT)
BABBLING PRAYERS
A poem and essay by ILMA
When you repeat again and again your request
It leads you nowhere, it is a futile quest
Some people think that by nagging the Lord
They can have every wish they have in this world.
God knows already what you need even before you ask
Why not just be honest with Him and open your heart?
Babbling and rote prayers doesn’t have meaning
They are just an exercise for sound uttering.
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I grew up surrounded by people who prayed formula prayers. At age seven, I can remember the mass in Latin where I just heard sounds and a language I can’t understand. It seemed like it was all a ritual. We were going inside the church, genuflecting before I sat in the pews and making sure my head was covered with veil, not making noise aside from what we were told to answer and saying out loud in unison with everybody the prayers that were taught to us in school. It is amazing that even at that young age, the Holy Spirit was teaching me that this kind of praying was wrong. So, I had this voice inside my mind that told me to talk to Jesus instead. It felt right to pray this way. ________________________________________
PRAYER
Lord, please let me never babble on when I pray.
REFLECTION
How can one avoid babbling when praying?
For more testimonials about God’s word, please go to YouTube and type ILMA’s poem devotional or go to www.ilmaarts.com posts. To receive emails of my poem devotionals, email me at ILMA.ARTS.STUDIO@gmail.com
Tag Archives: Matthew 6:7
PRAYING FROM THE HEART Poem Devotional
May 13 The Power of God’s Word
When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. –Matthew 6:7(NLT)
PRAYING FROM THE HEART
A poem by ILMA
Babbling and repeated prayers are futile
They do not involve your heart which is vital
When you pray, be in a secret place
Listen to his voice and hear what he says.
Don’t repeat your words again and again
It is only a waste of time and gets no gain.
Cry or shout for joy when you talk to the Lord
Pour out your heart to bring him laud.
When I was a child, the Our Father was the first prayer I was taught. The process of memorizing something is like storing the words in your heart. Be careful to be mindful when you utter memorized prayer. If you do not take the time to let your heart process the words, it will just be repeated words with no meaning. There were so many formula prayers I learned in the past that were futile.
The bible tells us that we shouldn’t repeat again and again what we say when we pray. God isn’t deaf. In fact, he already knows what we need even before we pray. Praying is like having intimate conversations with God where there’s interaction.
PRAYER
Lord, guard me from futile praying.
REFLECTION
Why do we need to use our hearts when we talk to God?