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But you, when you pray, enter into your inner chamber, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. In praying, don't use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:6 WEB

As the speaker walked up to the pulpit, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rising. I just knew that he was going to call on me to pray in front of the whole church again. They always asked someone to open the service with prayer and some had long beautiful prayers. Not me' I avoided praying in public as much as possible.

As I came to know the Lord better I realized that fearing public prayer was not right, but making a performance out of it was not right either. God does not care if I have a stutter when I pray. Moses had a speech impediment and was still the chosen one. Jesus said, 'When you give, When you pray, When you fast''. But you never do any of those things to impress others, or you have your reward already, which is the praise of men.

It is not the quantity, but the quality. Leave the long beautiful public speeches to the politicians and when you really want to connect with God, get somewhere quiet, pray and listen. Talk to Him as you would a friend. After all, He knows you better than anyone else and nothing that you do or say is in secret to begin with. He sees the way that you talk around your friends. He also reads your texts..

Also never, ever, ever be ashamed of Jesus. When you get backed into a corner on your faith, that is when you need to take a stand and say, 'Yes, I love Jesus!' and not like Peter who did 'Not know the Man.' Jesus said, 'For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when He comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the Holy Angels' (Luke 9:26).

James wrote, 'The effective, earnest prayer of a righteous man is powerfully effective. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit' (James 5:16'18).

Prayer is very powerful. We often have not, because we never asked for it. Make your needs known to God. Don't be afraid of praying, anywhere. God loves you and wants to hear from you today.

Prayer: Heavenly Father I thank You for today. I want You to know that I welcome You to be a part of my life. Guide me, teach me, mold me, I yield my will to You. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.