RETREAT - Matthew 6:1, 5-6
Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them for then you have no reward form your Father in heaven. ...And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever 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. - Matthew 6:1-6 A look at the right time and place for prayer: not in the front of the church or out in public for all to see but in private when you can be alone with God. Right after this passage, Jesus gives us a way to pray, offering us the Lord's Prayer as an example of how to pray. First, though, he gives us this imperative. He does not speak here of one way or a better way. "Whenever you pray," he says, and he says it twice. Get away from the crowds....