Our Father Knows

"When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words."
MATTHEW 6:7
+
Our Father Knows
There are those who think that it is a prayer if they put forth many words in their praying (as though God were a boy needing to be instructed and informed about our affairs, as if He knew nothing about them). . . . In praying it is needful above all to know that it is indeed certain that we are heard and that God knows [what we need] and intends [to do it] even before our prayer, etc., but that we should not stipulate the time, measure, person, or place for Him in advance. This is what Christ means when He says "for your Father knows," as if to say, "Do not teach Him when you pray, but be certain that He Himself knows those things." But do this: hope, trust, [and] be certain of His grace. He hears you in accord with His will; in accord with His time, not in accord with yours; in accord with His measure, not in accord with yours. Cast all of these things upon His will, and do not measure by your own feelings.

From Annotations on Matthew (Luther's Works 67:37-38)