Prayers most emphatically do not have to be long for God to hear and answer
Jesus said so specifically in Matthew 6, the Lord’s Prayer-Primer.
Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Contrast the Nehemiah prayer which was wordless, and the micro-prayers of Peter and “a woman of Canaan” each of whom simply said “Lord save me”, “Lord help me”.
Nehemiah 2:1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven, and, without a pause to express his prayer to God, he spoke to the king. and God saw to it that the king gave Nehemiah the desire of his heart. It was an abundant answer to a wordless prayer that took an instant.
Matthew 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
The prayer was effectively contained in the last three words. And Jesus answered with a miraculous deliverance, … at a distance.
Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Did Peter drown? Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him, and Jesus and Peter walked on the water, the remainder of the distance to the boat, with Jesus holding Peter’s hand!
These are Biblical illustrations encourage us. When we have a lot of things pressing in for our attention day after day, if you just don’t have the time for longer prayer times, God has a a solution for us. Pray plenty of Micro Prayers in your day. To make sure you don’t forget, write the actual Micro Prayers you want to pray into your daily schedule: 6 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm, for instance. Pray each for about 2 minutes and tick it as done. Expect God to answer immediately, and to add Holy Spirit efficiency to your Time Management.
You could call these Micro Prayers “Arrow Prayers”. Think of them as slim pointed arrows you shoot right into the heavenlies.
Jesus demonstrated Arrow Prayers when He gave us the Lord’s Prayer of Matthew 6. Each of the petitions in it is an arrow prayer.
What a Master we serve!
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