Matthew 6:5-8 NLT 5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

7 “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. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

They fall into the trap of thinking long prayers, are better prayers. The more they talk the more they will win God’s favor and the power of his hand with the eloquent speech and repetitive words.

-Evidence on Prayer:

Nir Eyal psychologist and author- Regular prayer lowers anxiety and improves mental focus. It enhances empathy, increases grit during suffering and helps manage negative emotions.

Dr. Leaf suggests that intentional, relational prayer activates the prefrontal cortex—improving focus and cognitive function—while reducing activity in areas associated with fear and stress.

Consistent, short periods of daily prayer can structurally change the brain that can be seen on an

Phil 4:6-7 NLT Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Come to God- Ask- Give Thanks

More than 20 times in the New Testament, you’re told to “ask” him. But he wants you to ask with gratefulness.

Biblical prayer- Jesus taught the disciples to pray a 68 word prayer.

1 Thess 5:17 ESV Pray without ceasing

Nearly every miracle in the Bible was the product of a short prayer.

Elijah prayed a 64 word prayer and fire fell from heaven. The prophets of Baal had prayed for hours and nothing happened.

Peter was on his way to church one day and prayed a one sentence prayer and a man who had never walked before stood up and begin jumping around praising God. one sentence prayer.

Acts 16:16-18 NIV Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

In 2 Kings 20 Hezekiah has an illness and it’s a death sentence. He prays to God a 29 word prayer and gets 15 more years of life

James 5:16b NLT The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Earnest=fervent, red hot. It’s sharing your heart.

When you pray God moves in your direction.

Jesus said this, you have not because you ask not. . What do you not currently have, because you never asked God?

Joshua 10:13b-14 NIV The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

Sun stand still.

Through prayer and faith, we can see chains break in our lives and in the lives of others, and the only right response is, “God, I knew You could.”

Prayer is where human faith meets divine action, and even when we don’t see immediate results, we’re invited to keep believing that God is at work, even if we can't see it.’

What short prayers do you need to start praying today?

Help me to see as you see.

Lord, bless them

Strengthen me today

Give me wisdom.

I commit ______ into your hands

Psalm 37:5 NLT Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.

Psalm 34:5 NLT Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

Psalm 56:8 NLT You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.

When you fall more in love with Jesus you can’t help but pray without ceasing.

Lord, when you come into your Kingdom…remember me.