How to Pray the Way Jesus Taught 🙏 | Matthew 6 Devotional (7-Step QT)
7-Step QT Notes
1. 🙏 Quiet Time
Pause.
Take a deep breath.
Ask the Father to realign your heart—away from performance and toward His presence.
2. 📅 January 24, 2026
Today’s passage reminds us:
Prayer and righteousness are not performances for people but communion with the Father—seeking His will above our own.
3. ✝️ Matthew 6:1-15
Jesus warns against practicing righteousness to be seen by others, teaching that giving, praying, and devotion belong in the secret place before the Father who sees and rewards. He rejects showy, empty‑phrase prayers and gives the Lord’s Prayer—centering on God’s name, kingdom, will, daily provision, forgiveness, and protection. Finally, He ties our experience of the Father’s forgiveness to our willingness to forgive others.
4. 📖 Key Verse
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (v. 10)
5. 📝 Reflection
Right now, countless people around the world are praying to countless gods. And in most cases, these prayers are filled with requests and demands, because many religions define prayer primarily as “asking for something.” But today, Jesus teaches us a very different kind of prayer.
Jesus warns us not to pray with empty repetition or with hypocritical motives meant to impress others. He also cautions us against seeking God’s forgiveness with a heart that is unwilling to forgive others. Then He teaches us a special prayer—the Lord’s Prayer. Why does He teach us to pray this way? Because it is through such prayer that God’s kingdom comes and His will is done on earth. Jesus came to earth, preached the Sermon on the Mount, and taught the Lord’s Prayer all for the purpose of fulfilling the Father’s will on earth. Therefore, we believe that the prayer Jesus gave us is truly a prayer aligned with God’s will.
Beloved, every part of our lives should align with God’s purpose. Every thought, action, and decision we make today should be shaped by His will. Our giving to the poor, our prayers for our needs, and even the moments when we don’t know what to pray—all must be submitted to God’s will. As you repeat the Lord’s Prayer today, may you understand more deeply what Jesus intended this prayer to accomplish in your life.
6. 💬 What does this passage speak to you today?
- Where am I tempted to “perform” spiritually so others will notice?
- Which line of the Lord’s Prayer do I most need to pray slowly today—and why?
- Is there someone I need to forgive so that my heart can pray freely again?
7. 🙏 Prayer
Father, teach me to love the secret place more than public approval.
Let Your name be honored in my life; let Your kingdom come and Your will be done in me today.
Give what I truly need, free me from temptation, and help me forgive as You forgive me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scriptures
📖 1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5 “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. 6 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. 7 “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. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:1-15, ESV).
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