Public Prayer

I was reading part of the church manual when i came to this. I'll quote:

Public Prayer "Christ impressed upon His disciples the idea that their prayers should be short, expressing just what they wanted, and no more. . . .

Page 73

One or two minutes is long enough for any ordinary prayer." Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 581.

"When you pray, be brief, come right to the point. Do not preach the Lord a sermon in your long prayers." Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 201.

"Let those who pray and those who speak pronounce their words properly and speak in clear, distinct, even tones. Prayer, if properly offered, is a power for good. It is one of the means used by the Lord to communicate to the people the precious treasures of truth. But prayer is not what it should be, because of the defective voices of those who utter it. Satan rejoices when the prayers offered to God are almost inaudible. Let God's people learn how to speak and pray in a way that will properly represent the great truths they possess. Let the testimonies borne and the prayers offered be clear and distinct. Thus God will be glorified." Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 382.

I think of the prayers people give during the worship. Some of them can last for 5 minutes. Hmmm....perhaps the old adage of "short and sweet" applies.

There are indeed interesting things written in the church manual. I was reading the part about Sabbath School since i've a meeting tomorrow about that.