Not Babbling
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6:7-8
When we go away, into our quiet place to pray, we are not to babble like those who do not know God. He is not interested in the quantity of our words as much as in their quality. In fact, we may not need to use words at all. Sometimes, the best prayer of all is simply to listen. After all, there is nothing that God does not already know. It is not as if we are informing Him of what is going on in His world. God does not need us to tell Him what is on the news, or what the weather is like. What He wants is for us to open our hearts to Him. In so doing we will share with Him the things that matter most to us. And as we share these things, God listens and comforts us with His Spirit’s presence. More often than not, in the silence following our prayers, God will minister to us.
The word translated as “babble” is unique in Greek. It is found nowhere else in ancient literature. Recognizing the onomatopoeia in the original, William Tyndale came up with “babble.” It is a good choice, implying the heaping up of empty words and of speaking just for the sake of speaking. It is this gushing forth of mindless phrases that Jesus condemns. We are not to interpret His words as a condemnation of written liturgy, or of the repetition that is sometimes part and parcel of our prayers. In Gethsemane, Jesus repeated Himself. We are told that, when He prayed for the third time, He used the same words as before.[1] Was Jesus babbling? Surely not! And neither are we when we say, “O Lord, hear our prayer.” There is nothing wrong with using the words of others, either, especially when those words express thoughts that we are having difficulty forming by ourselves. For many centuries, Christians have benefitted greatly by using the wealth of words bequeathed by the saints who went before us. However, written prayers can never totally substitute for our own prayers, no matter how beautifully they are written. And the most elegant of sentences will be worthless if we do not make the sentiments our own.
Lord God,
When I talk too much,
when my words trip over each other because I have so much to say;
when I am desperate that You should hear,
then slow me down.
Remind me that I do not need to bombard You with words as weapons.
You do not need to be persuaded to listen.
I already have Your ear.
May You have mine.
Amen.
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6:7-8
When we go away, into our quiet place to pray, we are not to babble like those who do not know God. He is not interested in the quantity of our words as much as in their quality. In fact, we may not need to use words at all. Sometimes, the best prayer of all is simply to listen. After all, there is nothing that God does not already know. It is not as if we are informing Him of what is going on in His world. God does not need us to tell Him what is on the news, or what the weather is like. What He wants is for us to open our hearts to Him. In so doing we will share with Him the things that matter most to us. And as we share these things, God listens and comforts us with His Spirit’s presence. More often than not, in the silence following our prayers, God will minister to us.
The word translated as “babble” is unique in Greek. It is found nowhere else in ancient literature. Recognizing the onomatopoeia in the original, William Tyndale came up with “babble.” It is a good choice, implying the heaping up of empty words and of speaking just for the sake of speaking. It is this gushing forth of mindless phrases that Jesus condemns. We are not to interpret His words as a condemnation of written liturgy, or of the repetition that is sometimes part and parcel of our prayers. In Gethsemane, Jesus repeated Himself. We are told that, when He prayed for the third time, He used the same words as before.[1] Was Jesus babbling? Surely not! And neither are we when we say, “O Lord, hear our prayer.” There is nothing wrong with using the words of others, either, especially when those words express thoughts that we are having difficulty forming by ourselves. For many centuries, Christians have benefitted greatly by using the wealth of words bequeathed by the saints who went before us. However, written prayers can never totally substitute for our own prayers, no matter how beautifully they are written. And the most elegant of sentences will be worthless if we do not make the sentiments our own.
Lord God,
When I talk too much,
when my words trip over each other because I have so much to say;
when I am desperate that You should hear,
then slow me down.
Remind me that I do not need to bombard You with words as weapons.
You do not need to be persuaded to listen.
I already have Your ear.
May You have mine.
Amen.
[1] Matthew 26:44
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