Listen

“When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:5-6

Think

Sometimes when I am asked to pray in front of people, I get this awful feeling in my stomach. I’m a preacher’s kid, and I heard prayers ALL the time growing up. The prayers I heard were always so beautiful and moving, and I never thought I could compare. I don’t know a lot of big religious words, so I never thought my prayers would be good enough.

When I tried to pray, my mind and heart were too busy thinking about what to say instead of connecting with God. I soon realized that prayer needed to be a simple conversation with God in which my mind wasn’t too focused on the words that I was saying, but my heart was expressing what it needed to say most.

The hypocrites prayed publicly with big, eloquent words to make them feel important. However, Jesus encourages us to pray where you can feel comfortable, where words aren’t your focus, and where you can share the strongest needs of your heart.

Michelle Phillips

Pray

Hey God, I just wanted to say hello. Help me to be bold and brave when I spend time with you. Not with the words I say, but with my heart. Amen.

Go

In this world, where bigger is said to be better, remember to be humble, pray often, and love one another.

Love and live this day with joy, peace, and the comfort of knowing that Jesus loves you.