When You Pray
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When should you go to God in prayer? When do you pray? How should you pray? How do you pray? Is there ever a time, or a manner, in which you should not pray to God?
There is never a bad time to pray. God welcomes our prayers, and anticipates that we will pray. Our prayers are welcome anytime.
There are ways to pray that are better than other ways to pray. We should pray, but when we pray it should be done to be heard by God, and not to be seen by others.
In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus taught, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 5:5-6, NIV).
Our prayers should be often and they should be sincere. Jesus expects us to pray. Jesus said, “when you pray”, he did not say, “if you pray”. Our prayers are expected.
When we pray, our prayers are to be directed to God in a focused, quiet, and confidential manner. God listens to our prayers in these places of intimacy and isolation. God also rewards our sincere and secret prayers.
May we be constant and confidential in our prayers and experience God in and through our prayers as God hears us and rewards us.
In Christ alone, Robbie
A Collect For The Spirit Of Prayer: “O Almighty God, you pour out on all who desire it the spirit of grace and of supplication: Deliver us, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (#5. Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
