Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:2
There are no instant answers, simple secrets, or inside methods of spiritual success with God. Rash “fast food” prayers and hasty emotional reactions have no business being in our practical theology. Worshiping God, knowing Him, walking with Him, and enjoying Him are matters of serious diligence. They can greatly enhance our daily life rythyms and through spiritual disciplines can flow into our lives, but never believe for a moment that belief in God, praying to God, or trusting God with hard circumstances (especially when other people’s choices are involved) are simplistic efforts. God is vastly above us in every way. Faith is kind of hard work because of that.
God’s immensity guarantees we cannot worship rashly. We can’t reduce walking with God down to “4 steps” or a three letter acronym. We also can’t lash out at His sovereign love when it clashes with our pre-conceived notions of what we think we should get from God. We pray, but God is in heaven, in control of everything, and we simply are not. We should never think of prayer as our means of getting God to give us what we want.
Real prayer that is mature will indeed ask of God. It may ask bold things in faith. Jesus encouraged that. But it will always align itself under the Lord’s own prayer that teaches His disciples not to be hasty: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Those few words, put to our heart’s requests can keep us from being rash or hasty with God.
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