You Can Do a Lot with a Few Words— Especially When It Comes to Prayers Prayers should be short. Somewhat humorously, we note how Jesus remarks: “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8).

Empty phrases packaged in many words do not impress God. God does not need to be impressed, because the divine ear is attentive to our needs before we even speak of them. Hence, those long tedious strings of eloquent verbiage we have become accustomed to hearing from the lips of our priests and pastors are, according to Jesus, superfluous. For the searching soul, short prayers will do just ne.

After an introduction which makes just this point, the book follows with thirty-one five-minute chapters, each with a story to meditate on accompanied by a short prayer.