Elaborate Prayers

 

I must confess that I used to attend a weekly prayer meeting but after a few weeks I stopped going. Not that I felt that there was no need for prayer but after those who were designated to pray, yes there were designated pray-ers, prayed I left a depressed wreck of a person.

Theirs were elaborate prayers of woe, diatribes of mournfulness that left those in dire need of comfort, discomforted. There was no adoration of God, no repentant confession, no thanksgiving, just accusation and condemnation and torture. Empty words bobbing from their mouths into my ears.

Jesus warned us about these kinds of prayers when He said,

When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who pretend piety by praying publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Truly, that is all the reward they will ever get. – Matthew 5:5 (TLB)

Regretfully, it seemed like a performance. Elaborate prayers with elaborate words, repeating familiar lines extracted from Scripture but lacking substance, without depth, and with no heart.

I believe that the level of stability of our spirituality can be reflected in our prayers, so if a person is designated to pray for others, he or she ought to be honest enough to submit and release things to God in private prayer before they engage in public prayer.

But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you. – Matthew 5:6 (TLB)

An intercessor who does not habitually go away by themselves, alone, in quiet prayerful solitude to seek God will experience little to no victories, no matter how elaborate their public outpouring may be.

Beloved, elaborate prayers are not a sign of authenticity, neither a sign of holiness. It’s okay to attend weekly prayer meetings if it serves your needs. It’s okay to have prayer partners if it proves beneficial. But if these leave you in a worse state than ever before, then it’s okay to go away by yourself, all alone to pray.

Pray from your heart, without ceasing (1Thessalonians 5:17), having faith that you will see a change in your circumstances, thanking God that the mountain is removed and expect a breakthrough.

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Elaborate Prayers” © 2025 October 13, 2025