Tyndale distinguished true and false prayer in part by distinguishing the role of the body in each. False, hypocritical prayer, relies entirely on the body; hypocrites have “turned [prayer] into a bodily labor, to vex the tongue, lips, eyes, and throat with roaring, and to weary all the members.” This is what Jesus condemned in condemning the “babbling” of the hypocrites.
True prayer is not un-bodily. But true prayer is easy on the body. In fact, instead of wearying the body, true prayer renews it: “True prayer would so comfort the soul and courage the heart, that the body, thought it were half dead and more, would revive and be lusty again, and the labor would be short and easy.”
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