Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5.17 KJV)

I never saw the point of "beating around the bush" when praying to God, so I tend to pray directly to the point. Which means that, as a consequence, my prayers tend to be short.

Today I sat next to someone who prayed without ceasing for at least an hour. To be precise, this person was reciting a series of prayers, not one long free form ad hoc prayer. But without ceasing nonetheless.

And I think I now get it. Praying without ceasing is not for the benefit of God. He is not more impressed when we do it.

But when we pray earnestly, we are not thinking about random things - we are thinking about what we are praying for or who we are praying for and who we are praying to (God).

It is healthier to think about God's love, grace, and mercy than what the world think of our appearance or our wealth. Time in prayer is good for us.

Of course, this does not mean we should make our prayer unnecessarily long. There are a lot of things we can thank God for and a lot of people we can pray for. We can spend a long time praying while keeping our prayer on each topic to the point, i.e. a series of prayer like what I just learned today.