Godspeak Calvary Chapel

In his sermon "When You Pray," Pastor Micah Stephens draws from the book of Matthew to deliver a heartfelt message about the simplicity and power of prayer, echoing Jesus' teaching that it should be a private, intimate exchange between an individual and God—not a public spectacle performed for human praise, lest that fleeting recognition become the only reward. He highlights Jesus' own reliance on prayer with the Father as a model for believers, urging us to depend on it even more in our own lives, while dispelling the notion that prayer is a complex ritual, magic spell, or wish to a distant deity; instead, it’s a direct, face-to-face conversation with God. Pastor Stephens emphasizes the extraordinary privilege we now have through Christ—unhindered access to God—contrasting it with the Old Testament era when Jews depended on animal sacrifices and a high priest to petition God on their behalf, a process so precise that a misstep could cost the priest his life. Today, he reminds us, we often