You seemed to have overlooked one of the messages you quoted. When you fast don't let others know you're fasting. Jesus is saying we should wash the ashes off our foreheads before we leave church.

Prayer is talking to GOD and it doesn't have to be memorized text in fact, it'll mean more to GOD if it's coming from the heart. Actually we don't even need to say any words. GOD knows our thoughts. Just thinking about thanking GOD, thinking about how you're going to do something and at the same time thinking about GOD helping you with that project and giving HIM credit for what works out in life is a lot better than saying "Long winded prayers" like the Scribes and Pharisees and carrying around those fancy beads.

Jesus put much more importance on his teachings than he did on prayer. It wasn't until the Apostles ask him to teach them to pray that he actually did any teaching on prayer. We are much better off studying GOD word and Jesus' teachings than spending a lot of time praying. Once you have studied the bible, you'll know GOD better and you'll understand HIM better. You can't get that knowledge from reciting the same prayers over and over again.

Doing acts of kindness and making sacrifices to help others is even better than prayer.

Chuck Lentine
(AKA GOD'S Cowboy)
(AKA Cowboy de Dios)