"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Have you ever noticed how different you sound when you pray in public versus when you pray alone? Maybe in public you use more formal language, longer sentences, or what you might call your "church voice." But when you're alone with God, you're all over the place, scattered, just trying to get your heart out. That's actually the prayer God loves because it's real communion, not performance.

Jesus cuts right to the heart of our prayer struggle. The Pharisees prayed long, elaborate prayers in public because they were seeking an audience with God. They needed people to hear them so they could feel validated in their spirituality. They heaped up empty phrases thinking that more words meant more power, that better vocabulary meant better access to God.

But here's what Jesus wants you to understand: you don't need to seek an audience with God because you already have His full attention. You're His child. Just like you never turn off your kids when they talk to you (even if you don't always respond immediately), your Father in heaven hears you. Always. Not because you prayed well enough or long enough, but because you're His.

Think about how kids talk to their parents. They don't say, "Father, I have a petition to bring before you this day, knowing that you have all wisdom and provision." They just say, "Dad, I need help with this." They're not worried about sounding spiritual. They just know they're heard because of the relationship, not because of their vocabulary.

So the question is: when you pray, are you trying to gain an audience with God, or are you resting in the fact that He's already listening? Your prolific public prayers might actually reveal that you have no real private prayer life. You'll always struggle to pray publicly when you don't pray privately because you're measuring your prayer life by human approval instead of divine acceptance.

Tomorrow we'll discover how fasting moves us from seeking things from God to seeking intimacy with God.

Set aside ten minutes today for private prayer. Don't worry about how you sound. Just talk to your Father like a child talks to a parent they trust completely. Tell Him what's really on your heart without trying to impress Him or use religious language.