Whether Prayer Should Last a Long Time?
Objection 1: It would seem that prayer should not be continual. It is
written (Matt. 6:7): "When you are praying, speak not much." Now one
who prays a long time needs to speak much, especially if his be vocal
prayer. Therefore prayer should not last a long time.
Obj. 2: Further, prayer expresses the desire. Now a desire is all the
holier according as it is centered on one thing, according to Ps.
26:4, "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after."
Therefore the shorter prayer is, the more is it acceptable to God.
Obj. 3: Further, it seems to be wrong to transgress the limits fixed
by God, especially in matters concerning Divine worship, according to
Ex. 19:21: "Charge the people, lest they should have a mind to pass
the limits to see the Lord, and a very great multitude of them should
perish." But God has fixed for us the limits of prayer by instituting
the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6). Therefore it is not right to prolong our
prayer beyond its limits.
Obj. 4: _On the contrary,_ It would seem that we ought to pray
continually. For our Lord said (Luke 18:1): "We ought always to pray,
and not to faint": and it is written (1 Thess. 5:17): "Pray without
ceasing."
_I answer that,_ We may speak about prayer in two ways: first, by
considering it in itself; secondly, by considering it in its cause.
The cause of prayer is the desire of charity, from which prayer ought
to arise: and this desire ought to be in us continually, either
actually or virtually, for the virtue of this desire remains in
whatever we do out of charity; and we ought to "do all things to the
glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). From this point of view prayer ought to
be continual: wherefore Augustine says (ad Probam, Ep. cxxx, 9):
"Faith, hope and charity are by themselves a prayer of continual
longing." But prayer, considered in itself, cannot be continual,
because we have to be busy about other works, and, as Augustine says
(ad Probam. Ep. cxxx, 9), "we pray to God with our lips at certain
intervals and seasons, in order to admonish ourselves by means of
such like signs, to take note of the amount of our progress in that
desire, and to arouse ourselves more eagerly to an increase thereof."
Now the quantity of a thing should be commensurate with its end, for
instance the quantity of the dose should be commensurate with health.
And so it is becoming that prayer should last long enough to arouse
the fervor of the interior desire: and when it exceeds this measure,
so that it cannot be continued any longer without causing weariness,
it should be discontinued. Wherefore Augustine says (ad Probam. Ep.
cxxx): "It is said that the brethren in Egypt make frequent but very
short prayers, rapid ejaculations, as it were, lest that vigilant and
erect attention which is so necessary in prayer slacken and languish,
through the strain being prolonged. By so doing they make it
sufficiently clear not only that this attention must not be forced if
we are unable to keep it up, but also that if we are able to
continue, it should not be broken off too soon." And just as we must
judge of this in private prayers by considering the attention of the
person praying, so too, in public prayers we must judge of it by
considering the devotion of the people.
Reply Obj. 1: As Augustine says (ad Probam. Ep. cxxx), "to pray with
many words is not the same as to pray long; to speak long is one
thing, to be devout long is another. For it is written that our Lord
passed the whole night in prayer, and that He 'prayed the longer' in
order to set us an example." Further on he says: "When praying say
little, yet pray much so long as your attention is fervent. For to
say much in prayer is to discuss your need in too many words: whereas
to pray much is to knock at the door of Him we pray, by the
continuous and devout clamor of the heart. Indeed this business is
frequently done with groans rather than with words, with tears rather
than with speech."
Reply Obj. 2: Length of prayer consists, not in praying for many
things, but in the affections persisting in the desire of one thing.
Reply Obj. 3: Our Lord instituted this prayer, not that we might use
no other words when we pray, but that in our prayers we might have
none but these things in view, no matter how we express them or think
of them.
Reply Obj. 4: One may pray continually, either through having a
continual desire, as stated above; or through praying at certain
fixed times, though interruptedly; or by reason of the effect,
whether in the person who prays--because he remains more devout even
after praying, or in some other person--as when by his kindness a man
incites another to pray for him, even after he himself has ceased
praying.
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