[Tuesday's Devotional] - How should we pray?

How should we pray?   'And 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. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.' Matthew 6:5-8 [NIV]   Yesterday we reminded ourselves that we should regularly come to God in prayer because he loves to hear from us, how then should we pray?  Thankfully, Jesus offers us some advice. He says:   Pray regularly - Jesus says 'when you pray', not 'if you pray', he expects us to pray. Pray privately - God doesn't want public displays of prayer, he isn't impressed with that, he wants us to focus our attention on him. Pray sincerely - God does not want us to pray what we think he wants to hear, but for us to share with him what is on our hearts. Pray specifically - in the verses that follow (vv9-13) Jesus gives us the Lord's Prayer, a helpful model for prayer.   Try praying through the Lord's Prayer slowly today, using it as a guidance for your prayers.   Emma Higgins    Twitter Website Copyright © 2016 St. Matthews & St. Oswalds Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthews & St. Oswalds Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!