One of the all-time great movies in my opinion is Fiddler on the Roof.  It not only has a good storyline and music, but it has a great message.  One of the biggest things I remember about the main character, an older man who struggled with his daughter’s decisions, is that he was always talking to God.  All throughout the day, he would hold an on-going “conversation” with the creator of the universe, as though He was his best friend.

After watching this movie, I tried to imitate that man and have my own conversations with God.  It was great!  If I was alone, afraid, or just depressed, I could tell my troubles to God, and know that He was listening to my every word.  It felt good to know that God was in control of everything in my life, and that He cared about my problems as much as I did.  This went on for a while, and I truly believe that I drew closer to my maker during this time.

The Problem

But then, as I was reading in my Bible one day, I came upon a verse that put some doubt into my mind:

Ecclesiastes 5:2, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

As you can tell, this appears to go against everything I had started doing, saying that since God is in heaven and we are on earth, we should let our words be few and not “bother” Him.  I really struggled with this, because it seems to say that it is possible to pray to much.  Had I been bothering God?  Had I been sinning?

I decided to set out and find the answer to my problem.  I started by reading the Bible and seeing what it had to say on Prayer.  However, I just got more confused when I got to verses like “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18).  It seemed as though I had stumbled upon one of those “contradictions” that many people say the Bible has.

The Solution

About this time, I decided to look for outside help and ask the pastor of my church (Andrew Weaver) about my problem.  I sent him an email explaining everything, and he graciously (and thankfully) got back a few hours later.  This is what he said:

The writer – The “teacher” – advises caution in the matter of worship in “God’s house” and, specifically, in the matter of making vows.  The sacrifice of fools may refer to worship that does not include right intention and contrition.  A fool thinks that by offering worship to God he automatically is OK.  But a humble, reflective approach to worship is wiser.  Better a few words than many hasty ones.  And caution is also appropriate when making vows.  Better no vow than a hasty one.  The picture may be of a foolish and wordy worshiper who makes a hasty vow, then tells the Temple messenger that it was a mistake.  If a person has awe reverence for God, he will be careful to avoid such hasty, wordy vows.

So … I don’t believe Ecclesiastes 5 is saying, “Don’t pray too much.”  Rather, the context is about a foolish and careless worshiper who makes hasty vows.  I also believe the rest of Scripture encourages a life of moment-by-moment walking with God.

As usual, his answer was extremely insightful and helpful.  After reading that, everything just seemed to fall in place.  I now know that, as pastor Weaver said, it’s not wrong to pray a lot, it’s just wrong to keep on “babbling like the pagans” as Jesus said in Matthew 6:7.

So next time your are doubtful as to if you are praying too much, or you are not praying very much and want to know if you should be praying more, remember that God accepts as much prayer as you give Him, as long as it’s genuine, sincere prayer from the heart.