But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:6) 

I admire people who record prayer requests in journals tattered from daily handling, those who keep track of every prayer and praise and then faithfully update their lists. I’m inspired by those who gather with others to pray and whose kneeling wears out the carpet at their bedsides. For years, I tried to copy their styles, to emulate a perfect prayer life, and to imitate the eloquence of the so-much-more-articulate-than-me folks. I strived to unravel what I thought was a mystery, as I longed to learn the right way to pray. 

Eventually, I learned that our Lord simply desires prayer that begins and ends with humility (Matthew 6:5). He invites us into an intimate exchange through which He promises to listen (v. 6). He never requires fancy or memorized words or phrases (v. 7). He assures us that prayer is a gift, an opportunity to honor His majesty (vv. 9–10), to display our confidence in His provision (v. 11), and to affirm our security in His forgiveness and guidance (vv. 12–13). 

God assures us He hears and cares about every single spoken and unspoken prayer, as well as the prayers that slip down our cheeks as silent tears. As we place our trust in God and His perfect love for us, we can be sure praying with a humble heart that’s surrendered to and dependent on Him is always the right way to pray. 

Lord, thank You for reminding us You hear every prayer. Amen. 

What I love about today’s devotion is it’s an incredible reminder that everyone’s “prayer closet” looks different and it’s not for us to strive to be like any one person when we pray. Our relationship and time with God looks different from person to person but as today’s devotion states one thing should be the same and that’s praying with a humble heart that’s surrendered to and dependent on Him. Today, stop looking at your neighbor and judging yourself based on there relationship with God and focus on your own relationship with God and He will meet you right where you are when you surrender all to Him. All to Jesus I surrender and that includes my prayer life. Calling on Jesus as our loving Savior and Lord is the right way to pray. 

Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord! 

Today’s Reading is Ecclesiastes 12:13