Daily Devotion: Prayer Time

Scripture:
Matthew 6: 5-13

Main Verse:
Matthew 6: 6
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.

Observation:
Jesus Christ himself emphasized the importance of having alone time with God in prayer. He prayed to the Father this way. He woke up early in the morning and spent time communicating with God through prayer. He also gave us a simple model we can follow when praying to God: Worship the father, ask for forgiveness of our sins, for provisions, and for protection against temptation. He also warned us against hypocritical prayer, as these kinds of prayers do not please the Lord. God does not like repetitive, ceremonious prayers. Instead, he longs to hear our voices. He wants us to come to Him with sincere hearts.

Application:
The Lord wants to communicate with us, but in order to do that, we need to spend some quiet time with the Lord. Mornings are the best times to pray to the Lord because we can give God our undivided attention. When we wake up, we can start our day with a prayer thanking the Lord for another new day and worshiping his majesty. True prayer also does not have to be long. In fact, the Lord warns us against "babbling." We do not have to memorize our prayers. If we know in our hearts that we are God's children, we can communicate with Him freely and tell Him our petitions. Prayers should not be a once a week duty, or a "I-need-something-from-the-Lord" thing. We should not even consider it a duty, rather an opportunity to grow more intimate with our relationship with the Father.

Prayer:
Father, forgive me whenever I fail to communicate with you early in the day, or worse, to spend some time to be with you. May I always be reminded that prayers and quiet times with you are a blessing, as these are the opportunities that I get to know you more, understand your Being, and develop a deeper relationship with you. AMEN.