I met a young man named Will, the son of a pastor, who said he never asks God for anything in prayer.

“He already knows what I need … .”

As my heart jumped and I reached for words to contest his perspective, he finished his thought.

“But I have lots of long conversations with Him.”

Sweet, but I think you still need to share your needs. He invites us to “ask … seek … knock.” (Matthew 7:7)

Two days later, I heard a woman named Maureen say that she prefers quick prayers, request and retreat.

“I make it simple. I tell Him what I need and then get out of it. If I stay too long in prayer, my thoughts take over.”

How much time should we spend in prayer? How much of our time does God need? How much of His time do we need?

I am Maureen many times throughout the day, but, like Will, I am learning to create and appreciate and TRUST the long conversations. I’m no longer afraid of the long conversations and what they might reveal.

A quick “Help me” prayer fits into a lot of places. There are moments when we can’t sit and pray. We need to recognize and respond. We invite Him into the moment, trust Him to provide light and strength, and we engage.

But, too many times in the past, I let a “Help me” suffice when I needed a long conversation. I was afraid of the long conversation. The long conversation would expose all the weakness and truth that led to some of the “Help me” moments.

Daily, I would lift some of version of “Lord, help me to be stronger tomorrow”

And tomorrow provided more of the same shades of gray.

Was He not hearing my prayer? Or was I not hearing my prayer? Was I not hearing how timid and insincere and I was? Maybe I didn’t want to hear everything that might be revealed in a longer conversation.

My prayer needed to be something like “Lord, what can I do today to make tomorrow better?” Or, “Lord, show me how how I got into this gray place, and then show me the way through it.”

When my prayers became bolder, are more honest, and the conversations became longer, I was able to navigate my way through the gray.

I don’t return to the long conversations every day, but I am not afraid to return when life gets complicated..