Do you fat-shame people about their prayers?

Prayer is a tricky thing.

We wonder how you should do it?
How often?
What should pray for?
Does God always hear our prayers?
How earnestly should you pray?
How long should you persevere in prayer?
Does God always answer prayer?
How do we know when God has answered our prayers?
What relation does prayer have with faith?
How big should our prayers be?
Should we always pray for the miraculous?
If we do pray for a miracle, should it come with a disclaimer which gives God the option not to comply?

As I said, prayer is tricky...

In ministry you regularly teach about the topic.
You are an example of prayer.

But, the topic remains, all too often, shrouded in mystery.

With that all said, prayer is also open to misinterpretation and manipulation.

Even accidentally.

In church services, sermons and bible studies we can stumble into a dangerous message surrounding prayer.

We commit the act to spiritually fat-shaming people about their prayers.

We can claim to know the ideal way to pray and shame those who don't follow the script.
We can claim that someone hasn't prayed "hard enough."
Or "often enough."
Or with "enough faith."

And, in doing so, we shame them in a similar fashion as a contestant on The Biggest Loser.

Unfortunately, in most cases, this is a disservice.

For, in reality, we don't know nearly as much about prayer as we claim.
We don't know the heart of the person praying.
We don't know the intensity of their prayers.
We don't know the level of their faith.

Prayer-shaming them just crushes their desire to pray.
It heaps guilt upon good intentions.
It piles shame where it might not belong.

When it comes to a spiritual child coming before their Heavenly Father, putting things in their path or making them doubt the effectiveness of prayer is an action which grieves the heart of God.