Prayer- intensity, perseverance, patience and persistence

Importunate- (Dictionary Definition)

1  troublesomely urgent :  overly persistent in request or demand
2  troublesome

Importunity- acting importunate.

*******

'Importunity is made up of intensity, perseverance, patience and persistence. The seeming delay in answering prayer is the ground and the demand of importunity.

In the first recorded instance of a miracle being wrought upon one who was blind, as given by Matthew, we have an illustration of the way in which our Lord appeared not to hearken at once to those who sought Him. But the two blind men continue their crying, and follow Him with their continual petition, saying, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." But He answered them not, and passed into the house. Yet the needy ones followed Him, and, finally, gained their eyesight and their plea.

(((Mat 9:27  And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
Mat 9:28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Mat 9:29  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.))))

The case of blind Bartimaeus is a notable one in many ways. Especially is it remarkable for the show of persistence which this blind man exhibited in appealing to our Lord. If it be -- as it seems -- that his first crying was done as Jesus entered into Jericho, and that he continued it until Jesus came out of the place, it is all the stronger an illustration of the necessity of importunate prayer and the success which comes to those who stake their all on Christ, and give Him no peace until He grants them their hearts' desire.

Mark puts the whole incident graphically before us. At first, Jesus seems not to hear. The crowd rebukes the noisy clamour of Bartimaeus. Despite the seeming unconcern of our Lord, however, and despite the rebuke of an impatient and quick-tempered crowd, the blind beggar still cries, and increases the loudness of his cry, until Jesus is impressed and moved. Finally, the crowd, as well as Jesus, hearken to the beggar's plea and
declare in favour of his cause. He gains his case. His importunity avails even in the face of apparent neglect on the part of Jesus, and despite opposition and rebuke from the surrounding populace. His persistence won where half-hearted indifference would surely have failed.'

(((Mar 10:46  And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
Mar 10:47  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
Mar 10:48  And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
Mar 10:49  And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
Mar 10:50  And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
Mar 10:51  And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
Mar 10:52  And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. ))))

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 34)

*******
TRUTH-

'Importunity is made up of intensity, perseverance, patience and persistence. The seeming delay in answering prayer is the ground and the demand of importunity. '

INTENSITY.
PERSEVERANCE.
PATIENCE.
PERSISTENCE.

Do we have these? Or are our prayers void of any real desire?

We CANNOT live in this world and NOT have petitions for our Heavenly Father!

Jesus did NOT live in this world and NOT have petitions for His Heavenly Father!

We cannot expect to have a REAL relationship with our Heavenly Father is we are not praying REAL prayers.

You CAN have a false relationship with our Heavenly Father, and you can pray prayers that are empty, that are meaningless.   And in that false relationship with your false prayers you can be under the delusion that you are in a real relationship and really praying.  Satan LOVES to deceive us! Satan LIVES to deceive us! At every step He is there trying to trick us, to trip us up. Satan is NOT God however, and Satan does NOT know everything! Satan does not know the end from the beginning, to believe that he does would mean putting him on the same level as God and that's where he wants us to believe he exists. Satan wants us to give him the same powers as God, because if we do that then we believe him to be a god and not an angel at all, not a creation of God's, but a god in his own right which is what he wants to be- it was THAT pride which filled his heart that caused his downfall. He wants to be like the Most High.

'Isa_14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. '

So I ask you, is your praying REAL? Is your relationship with God, our Heavenly Father,  a real relationship?

When we settle down to say our prayers- is there any earnestness in those prayers? Is there any intensity at all?

Jesus set Himself apart to do a lot of His praying--

Mat_14:23  And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone

Luk_6:12  And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Luk_11:1  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Jesus is our example.  When we are told that He went to pray, when we are told He went alone to pray, when we are told He continued all night in prayer to God, what are we to get from this?  Our SAVIOR needed to PRAY! And our Savior needed to pray CONSTANTLY!  If our SAVIOR, if the Son of GOD needed to pray to the Heavenly Father, we do we imagine that we can get by on a short simple pretend prayer, a prayer that is prayed by memorization, by rote? Why do we think that suffices?  Do you imagine as Jesus spent an entire night in prayer that it was just a constant repetition, without any real feeling, without any real importunate behavior?  Or can you imagine Him praying deeply, earnestly, and revealing His heart to His Father in His prayers. We have this example…

Joh 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Joh 18:1  When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.

*******

SUCH PRAYER!  A prayer we've been blessed to know, to read, to comprehend, to read over and over knowing that OUR SAVIOR prayed this to HIS FATHER, to OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. Jesus did NOT simple recite what has come to be known as 'The Lord's Prayer', Jesus spoke from HIS heart to His Father!  This too is our example! This too is something we must comprehend and realize as we too PRAY as our Savior prayed!  We need to glorify our God in our prayers and seek Him earnestly as Jesus sought Him as Jesus petitioned Him for us!

Please LORD, Bless us! Help us to PRAY as we ought to pray! Let the Holy Spirit intercede for us! Let us be One with You Heavenly Father and One with our Savior, Your Son who gave His life for us!

Please LORD, please! Bless us! We will NOT let You go lest You bless us!

All in YOUR LOVE, by YOUR GRACE and MERCY!

Asking, Seeking, Knocking- not always answered instantaneously

'Importunate praying is the earnest, inward movement of the heart toward God. It is the throwing of the entire force of the spiritual man into the exercise of prayer.'

'Importunate praying never faints nor grows weary; it is never discouraged; it never yields to cowardice, but is buoyed up and sustained by a hope that knows no despair, and a faith which will not let go. Importunate praying has patience to wait and strength to continue. It never prepares itself to quit praying, and declines to rise from its knees until an answer is received.'

'In the three words ask, seek, knock, in the order in which He places them, Jesus urges the necessity of importunity in prayer. Asking, seeking, knocking, are ascending rounds  in the ladder of successful prayer. No principle is more definitely enforced by Christ than that prevailing prayer must have in it the quality which waits and perseveres, the courage that never surrenders, the patience which never grows tired, the resolution that never wavers.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 33)

*******

Mat 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you

We all too often read this verse in Matthew and choose to believe it is a recipe for instant answers. We imagine we ask and it is given instantly. We imagine seeking and finding instantly. We imagine knocking and the door opening right away without any delays at all whatsoever.  To ever imagine that we might have to ask over and over and over and over again before it is given- upsets us.  We asked now where is what we asked for?  We asked, as if our asking produced everything necessary for us to receive.  Think about it for a moment, how often in your life have you been asked for something only to have to wait sometimes many years before you are given what you asked for? How often have you been asked for something only to reply maybe, not giving anything immediately? As a parent a person can probably understand the example of a child asking for something and you telling them no, not now, not yet. You in your parental discretion have your reasons for that answer but more often than not a child won't understand the reason, not in their heart. They wouldn't have asked if they didn't think it were something possible, right? I'm not talking about the very young children who don't know better in their asking and want a spaceship for their birthday that could fly them to the moon. Instant gratification isn't something we can always give to anyone who asks anything of us.

Asking, seeking, finding.

Ask.

Seek- this denotes a process doesn't it? Seeking something can take time. Even when we search the internet for something we don't always come up with what we are looking for right away.

Knock-  we want the person to be home, but even if they are, they don't necessary answer their door right away.

We do have to pray consistently, insistently, importunately, believing our prayers are being answered. Having faith that even when we don't realize instant results of our prayers that our prayers have been heard. Because we don't get memos from God telling us that we have to wait a while, we do become the nagging child because we repeat our petitions over and over. Our Savior told us that such bothersome behavior can result in an answer as well. Our heavenly Father does not possess anything but patience with us, and won't out of spite from our nagging turn down our prayer request.  Our earnestness maybe even cause a favorable response.

We have to be willing to PRAY, truly PRAY sincerely, recognizing the incredible specialness of prayer!

By the GRACE of our LORD JESUS CHRIST!  All in HIS LOVE!

Vigorous Faith

'THE tenor of Christ's teachings, is to declare that men are to pray earnestly -- to pray with an earnestness that cannot be denied. Heaven has harkening ears only for the whole-hearted, and the deeply-earnest. Energy, courage, and persistent perseverance must back the prayers which heaven respects, and God hears. All these qualities of soul, so essential to effectual praying, are brought out in the parable of the man who went to his friend for bread, at midnight. This man entered on his errand with confidence.

Friendship promised him success. His plea was pressing: of a truth, he could not go back empty-handed. The flat refusal chagrined and surprised him. Here even friendship failed! But there was something to be tried yet -- stern resolution, set, fixed determination. He would stay and press his demand until the door was opened, and the request granted. This he proceeded to do, and by dint of importunity secured what
ordinary solicitation had failed to obtain.

The success of this man, achieved in the face of a flat denial, was used by the Saviour to illustrate the necessity for insistence in supplicating the throne of heavenly grace. When the answer is not immediately given, the praying Christian must gather courage at each delay, and advance in urgency till the answer comes which is assured, if he have but the faith to press his petition with vigorous faith.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 32)

*******

Luk 11:5  And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luk 11:6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luk 11:7  And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luk 11:8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

*******

Do you have such a friend? Have you ever been in such a scenario? Maybe not these exact circumstances but similar?  Have you ever asked someone to do something for you only to be turned down by them?  And after being turned down have you ever bugged them endlessly until they give in? I have. And so I know that this is something that is very possible.  Our Savior gives us this parable to show to us that WE have to be persistent, we have to. Persistent in praying.

'Faith to press his petition with vigorous faith.'  

Vigorous faith- vigorous praying!

We must petition our God more than we'd ever petition anyone else.

Please, LORD, please save us from our sad, pathetic sort of praying that we try to pass off as being real.

Help us, please, LORD, help us! We would pray as YOU would have us pray! We would seek YOU, seek YOUR favor, YOUR blessing, YOUR will!

'Spiritual Self-Indulgence or Self-Discipline'

"Two-thirds of the praying we do, is for that which would give us the greatest possible pleasure to receive. It is a sort of spiritual self-indulgence in which we engage, and as a consequence is the exact opposite of self-discipline. God knows all this, and keeps His children asking. In process of time -- His time -- our petitions take on another aspect, and we, another spiritual approach. God keeps us praying until, in His wisdom, He deigns to answer. And no matter how long it may be before He speaks, it is, even then, far earlier than we have a right to expect or hope to deserve." -- ANON.

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 31)

'Spiritual self indulgence' - How incredibly true is this?    And equally true- it's 'the exact opposite of self- discipline.'

Our self indulgence, pleasing self, seeking self fulfillment, seeking self adoration, self contentment, self, self, self and how close that is to selfishness. Seriously, self focus is just a sliver away from selfishness.  Satan would have us NOT see our own selfishness. Satan would have us indulge in our selfishness at every turn and will present us with millions and millions of opportunities to do so.

Selfishness in prayer…   perhaps this is why our Savior taught us to pray in a certain form if not exact wording-

OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN-  (Heaven Focused)
HALLOWED BE THY NAME- (Heaven Focused)
THY KINGDOM COME- (Heaven Focused)
THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN -(Heaven Focused)
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD - (Self/Other Focused)
AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS - (Self/Other Focused)
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION BUT DELIEVER US FROM EVIL- (Self/Other Focused)
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOR  EVER - (Heaven Focused)
AMEN

Give us-Forgive us- Lead us-Deliver us.

Give, forgive, lead, deliver- us.

First we pray recognizing our FATHER in HEAVEN. We recognize HIS kingdom, HIS will.
Then we pray for our sustenance - spiritual and physical.
After that we pray for our SINS to be forgiven AS we forgive others their sins.
Next we pray for our Father in Heaven to lead us NOT into temptation and to DELIVER us from evil.
Last we recognize HIS kingdom, HIS power, HIS glory forever!

When we pray for things outside of this form of prayer we have to remember to not ask for anything amiss- anything selfishly, anything against God. All things must be prayed in HIS WILL, not ours.

May God help us remember to pray this way, HIS way, not OUR way, allowing the HOLY SPIRIT to speaking for us with groanings we cannot comprehend.

Your will LORD, Your will, always!

Hang on in prayer, don't stop praying.

'In these parables of importunate praying, our Lord sets forth, for our information and
encouragement, the serious difficulties which stand in the way of prayer. At the same
time He teaches that importunity conquers all untoward circumstances and gets to itself
a victory over a whole host of hindrances. He teaches, moreover, that an answer to
prayer is conditional upon the amount of faith that goes to the petition. To test this, He
delays the answer. The superficial pray-er subsides into silence, when the answer is
delayed. But the man of prayer hangs on, and on. The Lord recognizes and honours his
faith, and gives him a rich and abundant answer to his faith-evidencing, importunate
prayer.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 30)

********

'The man of prayer- HANGS ON, and ON.'

We do NOT ever stop praying!  When we stop praying, we shun our Creator, our Redeemer. When we stop praying we cut ourselves off from the very source of all true love, true compassion.  Our Father in Heaven wants to help us, He wants to answer our petitions. He knows the end from the beginning while we only know the past and the present.

Constant praying, continuous praying.

It is true the superficial pray-er STOPS praying.
The superficial pray-er does not have faith.
Faith continues on indefinitely, trusting when to all appearances there is NOTHING to trust!  Satan will put up every barrier that he can to get us to stop believing, to stop praying, to kill our faith!

Our prayer must be heartfelt, it must be REAL to our REAL GOD!

We MUST WORSHIP OUR GOD in prayer!

So many would have us live a faith void of true worship of God. They would have us erect ourselves as paramount putting God second, third, fourth, and on down the ladder of importance. How many of us have sacrificed ANYTHING real in order to serve our GOD?

Why do we leave real worship to those we label lunatics and fanatics? They commit vile acts in the name of God so they rightly deserve the label, but their devotion is something tangible.  We are afraid to truly worship God, to give Him all of ourselves, to place Him above all in our lives, to PRAY to HIM as we should.

The consistence, insistent, importunate pray-er is one who knows GOD as a reality, not as a wispy fairy godfather just there to grant petitions. God as a reality is God who knows best and allows the worst for the best and we abide by His decisions even as we continue to pray, pray, pray!

We must hang on in our praying. We must never give up or give in to a superficial relationship with our God. We must hold fast enduring everything while not letting go of our God.

Please, LORD, help us to never let go of YOU.

Insistence

Insistence.

Luk 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luk 18:2  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luk 18:3  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Luk 18:4  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Luk 18:5  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

'This parable stresses the central truth of importunate prayer. The widow presses her
case till the unjust judge yields. If this parable does not teach the necessity for
importunity, it has neither point nor instruction in it. Take this one thought away, and
you have nothing left worth recording. Beyond all cavil, Christ intended it to stand as
an evidence of the need that exists, for insistent prayer.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 29)

*******

INSISTENT PRAYER!

Some would have us believe that we shouldn't pray over and over and over for the same thing or else it shows we do not believe God hears us and will grant us our prayer.  Yet here we have the this parable of a widow coming to a judge over and over until the judge finally grants her petition.  She was pleading her case, she was desperately desiring to be avenged against wrong doing. Don't we plead our case? Don't we plead to be avenged of this very world we were born into? Not asking to be born, but gifted with life, gifted with the chance to choose to serve a loving, merciful, forgiving, God.  We plead before our God to be saved from this world, saved from the penalty of the sin we commit, saved from our choices to disobey Him.  We plead for our God to give us new life, a life as His with Him! And this MUST be our constant prayer! This MUST be our insistent prayer! This must be our plea to our Creator, our Redeemer to save us from Satan and his evil, to save us from OUR adversary the DEVIL!

Not only are we to pray insistently for this, we are to pray this way for all things, because this is the prayer of the heart.  A prayer from the heart isn't lightly spoken, or thought silently, without any spirit conviction.  How desperately we need to cultivate true prayer!  And yes, how NECESSARY prayer is for us who live in Christ!

Please, LORD, please help us to be insistent in our praying! Help us to desire You above ALL things, knowing it is YOU who gives us all we need to be YOURS, knowing YOU give us a promise of eternity in YOU, in LOVE.

All by YOUR GRACE!

Praying Without Pretense, Praying Long

'The REPEATED intercessions of Abraham for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah present an early example of the necessity for, and benefit deriving from importunate praying. Jacob, wrestling ALL NIGHT with the angel, gives significant emphasis to the power of a dogged perseverance in praying, and shows how, in things spiritual, importunity succeeds, just as effectively as it does in matters relating to time and sense.

As we have noted, elsewhere, Moses prayed FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS, seeking to stay the wrath of God against Israel, and his example and success are a stimulus to present day faith in its darkest hour. Eljah repeated and urged his prayer SEVEN TIMES ere the raincloud appeared above the horizon, heralding the success of his prayer and the victory of his faith. On one occasion Daniel though faint and weak, pressed his case THREE WEEKS, ere the answer and the blessing came.

Many nights during His earthly life did the blessed Saviour spend in prayer. In Gethsemane He presented the same petition, THREE TIMES, with unabated, urgent, yet submissive importunity, which involved every element of His soul, and issued in tears and bloody sweat. His life crises were distinctly marked, his life victories all won, in hours of importunate prayer. And the servant is not greater than his Lord.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 28)

*******

Praying- all night, praying for 40 days and 40 nights, praying 7 times, praying for 3 weeks, praying 3 times.

These examples are for our LEARNING.  So why do we imagine we can say a single simple prayer and that is that? Why do we lament our God doesn't hear us, doesn't answer our prayers when we scarcely pray one importune prayer? What makes us believe that those closest to God the Father should have to spend agonizing long moments, some times days, some times weeks, some times months in fervent prayer and we should not have to do the same? Why do we spend so LITTLE time in prayer? Why to even imagine a full day of praying is something beyond our comprehension? Maybe we can commit to an hour, but truly more than that we falter, don't we? DON'T WE?! Perhaps a prayer prayed in less than a full minute is all we can muster, is this what we call fervent effectual praying? If your life were on the line and you had to beg for it, how long would you beg? Seriously? If another that you loved had their life on the line would you beg for it long, or only for a moment? I'm not saying our lives are dependent upon the length of our prayers because we can recall Jesus saying the following--

'Mar 12:38  And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
Mar 12:39  And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
Mar 12:40  Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. '

'For a PRETENSE make long prayers'   No, praying long is NO good if done for pretense.

Remember this--

'Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.'

The man praying simply 'God be merciful to me a sinner' was justified, not the Pharisee praying long and with a false heart.

We know that the men of God who prayed long- for hours, days, weeks, and months prayed with sincerity and without any pretense, these men had NO GUILE in them!

Rev 14:3 ...the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Those who are God's will have NO GUILE in them, there will be no pretense in their prayers and they will pray as they must pray- truthfully, fervently, effectually, all through the Holy Spirit.

Please, LORD, we would be YOURS in our praying, teach us to truly pray as we ought to pray. We would be YOURS!

By YOUR LOVE, YOUR GRACE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!