Progressing in Prayer

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PRIVATE 

 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Mark 1:35

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;

Luke 4:42

So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Luke 5:16

 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Matthew 6:5-6

The LORD JESUS set the example for us to follow. Private prayer is the most important habit in our lives. Public prayer and corporate prayer should flow out of our close and intimate communion and communication with the LORD.

PUBLIC

There are times when we are led to pray in public, but our motive should not be to glorify ourselves, but to glorify the LORD. At the tomb of Lazarus, JESUS prayed to the Father in public. He addressed the following words to His Father, while being conscious that the people were also listening.

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."

John 11:41-42