Patti Burris

Matthew 6:5-8

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I have always felt that God wrote this verse for me and other introverts who sometimes feel our prayers are inadequate compared to the eloquent prayers of others. I spent a few months in the Fall of 2012 and early 2013 spending many hours in the prayer room of our local house of prayer. It was modeled after the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri. Integrated into the intercession sets were times of rapid fire prayer and intercessory prayer. For both types of prayer the intercessors would pray on the microphone. The only difference between the two being that the rapid fire prayer segment was intercessors giving 15 second prayers instead of longer, more eloquent prayers. I learned so much during these months about prayer and the end times and I loved spending hours in the prayer room, sitting at the feet of my Savior, but I struggled with the idea of having to pray on the microphone in front of everyone else. Part of what we were taught was that “we are all meant to be outgoing and extroverts.” I knew that God did not make extroverts and then suddenly forget what He was doing with the rest of us. We are introverts for a reason. We are not mistakes and some of us do not feel the leading of the Holy Spirit to pray publicly. We may be in agreement with what others are praying, but that doesn’t mean that God is leading ALL of us to pray publicly. I was made to feel somehow less than because of my introverted ways.

There is a place in God’s kingdom for introverts. There is a place in God’s kingdom for those of us who pray simple, honest prayers from humble hearts. I don’t feel like I need to stand on the street corners or pray on the microphone in a House of Prayer for God to hear me and answer my prayers. I don’t need to pray long, eloquent prayers to get God’s attention. Honestly, God answers my prayers daily and my prayers are usually short and to the point.

There is a place for praying as a community and coming together in agreement. God tells us that too, but I believe that the majority of our prayers are said when we are alone. There is something very special about that time when we meet with Jesus and can share our innermost secrets with our Savior in private. We don’t need wordy, flowery prayers. We don’t need for others to hear us. We can be certain that God hears the prayers of the introvert. We can be certain that God hears the prayers of the shy, quiet, sensitive, anxiety ridden heart and He WILL answer those prayers.

Never think that your prayers aren’t good enough, loud enough or flowery enough. Just because someone in a leadership position tells you that you need to pray a certain way in order for God to hear you does not make it true. Go to the heart of God, His Word, and find out for yourself what the truth is.

CHALLENGE: Read the story of Moses and see for yourself how God used a reluctant man, who by his own admission (Exodus 4:10) was not good with words, to lead a nation to freedom.

Remember Moses and never think that your prayers are not good enough.