Praying

[Oakenshield]

The Book of Matthew Chpt 6, verse 5-7:

When the Lord speaks of praying, he states to pray in private. So after reading verse 5-7, my understanding is the Lord is stating not to make a spectacle while praying, Is the praying done in certain churches today doing the opposite of what the Lord is stating not to do?


Thank you.

 

[joey_downunder]

My understanding of that is that believers should have the right motives for public prayer at all times i.e. to pray to God and not to impress others instead..... therefore that could possibly happen in any Christian meeting of any type, ranging from two person bible study to a massive Christian service.

 

[Oakenshield]

My understanding of that is that believers should have the right motives for public prayer at all times i.e. to pray to God and not to impress others instead..... therefore that could possibly happen in any Christian meeting of any type, ranging from two person bible study to a massive Christian service.

Thank you for sharing your understanding of the passage. My understanding is similar, but I wanted to read other opinions as well.

 

[1watchman]

I have tended to view prayer as a humble and reverent conversation with the Lord --whether a private prayer or in the assembly or among friends, etc.

 

[LilLamb219]

Here is the verse: And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.

So we see the reason why Jesus states to pray in private. During that period there were hypocrites who wanted to draw attention to themselves.

In churches people are worshiping the Lord, not drawing attention to themselves.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Clearly from Scripture there are examples of two sorts of prayer: private and public. 1 Timothy 2.8 seems to be public in emphasis, for example.

 

[AGTG]

There is private prayer and there is corporate prayer. Private prayer is the absolute most important. If you're going to pray corporately, you had better have a solid personal prayer life first.

Then, examine your heart. That's what that passage is about. The religious leaders of that age prayed in public to garner attention and feel good about themselves.

If people are humbly coming together to pray, this is very good for the church as prayer powers any Body of believers to greater levels of glory in the Kingdom.

This kind of corporate prayer can look differently. It may be very quiet with people on their faces seeking God independently, it may be more interactive with people taking turns praying out what's on their heart, or it could be quite boisterous with people praying in tongues, making prophetic utterances, and shouting glory to God. There is freedom in how a Body of believers wishes to worship.

 

[insurchoftruth]

I believe that is about asking ourselves, why we do our spiritual christian activites on a daily basis.