Prayer, Playing at – Charles Spurgeon

IF you were to go to one of the banks in Lombard Street, and see a man go in and out and lay a piece of paper on the table, and take it up again and nothing more; if he did that several times a day, I think there would soon be orders issued to the porter to keep the man out, because he was merely wasting the clerk’s time, and doing nothing to purpose. Those city men, who come to the bank in earnest, present their checks, they wait until they receive their gold, and then they go, but not without having transacted real business. They do not put the paper down, speak about the excellent signature, and discuss the correctness of the document, but they want their money for it, and they are not content without it. These are the people who are always welcome at the bank, and not the triflers. Alas, a great many people play at praying, it is nothing better. I say they play at praying, they do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers, who mock the Lord. He who prays in a business-like way, meaning what he says, honors the Lord. The Lord does not play at promising; Jesus did not sport at confirming the word by his blood; and we must not make a jest of prayer by going about it in a listless, unexpecting spirit.