Words are not the most important thing when we pray. At times people complain that they are uncomfortable praying because they don’t know what to say. When they try to pray, they quickly run out of phrases and requests and they bring their brief time of divine communion to an abrupt end.
The reality is that whether we are trying to impress people with our public prayers or not, we tend to say things in prayer that are unnecessary. We draw on Christian clichés and pious phrases we have heard others use but which carry no genuine feeling. We repeat ourselves and use words for which we hardly know the definition. We may use trite phrases we do not sincerely mean. When such utterances make their way to heaven, every superfluous word or phrase is eradicated and God only listens to what originates from our heart.
God has no interest in grandiose phrases. His supreme confidence is not enhanced an iota by our flowery language. God cuts through all such meaningless phrases and hones in on our heart language. What is it we are genuinely confessing? What statements were truly honest? What needs did we humbly acknowledge? What did we state about God that originated from our grateful heart?
God is never impressed with verbosity. The length of our prayers mean nothing to Him. It is the honesty and sincerity of our communion that pleases Him. Of all that you are currently saying to God in your prayers, what is it He is listening to?