Impressive prayers
As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. ~ Ecclesiastes 5:1 (NLT)
When you pray, using fewer words is often better than using more words. Some people actually think that God's response to our requests is tied to how long and how emotionally intense we can crank out the prayers. ~ Matthew 6:7 (ABP)
KEY THOUGHT:
Don't try to impress God with your prayers.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for welcoming us into your presence. I get uneasy around you and feel like I need to fill every second of silence with an endless string of words. Help me to learn how to shut up and listen.
I'm looking forward to simply being with you. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
