Rules for Public Prayer
By Congregationalist
Don't pray at people; scolding isn't praying, and it never does less good than when it is foisted into a prayer, and the scolded think you are telling the Lord that about them which you do not dare to say to their faces. Don't talk with the Lord as you would chat with your neighbor; true prayer is reverent. Don't ramble all over the universe; you'll not get back in time. Don't try to get everything into one prayer; you will most likely have another chance. Don't pray so long as to tire out all the hearers; that isn't the meaning of the commands to "pray always," and to "pray without ceasing;" and you can safely leave some petitions to be offered when alone in your closet. Don't pray in public, if you are prayerless in secret; such prayer prevails neither with God nor man. Pray "in the Holy Ghost."