“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." Matthew 6:5-6

A word of caution is necessary. We must be careful when we approach God in prayer. As all men and women entering into the marriage union are forewarned, it is not something to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly, but reverently and in the fear of Almighty God. Why? Because prayer, like marriage between a man and a woman, while being a gift from God and quite wonderful, is also quite dangerous. The quagmire that we get into has everything to do with our desires and the condition of our hearts. As Eugene Peterson put it “We want life on our conditions, not God’s conditions. Praying puts us in risk of getting involved in God’s conditions. Be slow to pray. Praying most often doesn’t get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be our best interests. And when we realize what is going on, it is often too late to go back. Be slow to pray...Prayer is dangerous."