DeaconBlues wrote:
AngelRho wrote:
Exactly.
The whole praying in private thing was not an instruction to ONLY pray in private. All Jesus meant was that those who pray should not make a spectacle of themselves. It is not a universal prohibition against public prayer.
Matthew 6:5-6 (NIV) reads, "When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most assuredly, I tell you, they have received their reward . But you, when you pray,
enter into your inner chamber, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." (emphasis mine)
I dunno - seems pretty clear to me, He didn't really care for public prayer...
But you emphasized what you wanted to emphasize to make your point. You aren't taking into consideration the greater context.
It starts out "When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites..." The manner in which they pray is such "that they may be seen by men. ...they have received their reward." It's not a prohibition against public prayer. It just means don't pray in such a way as to display to the whole world how holy you think you are.
Compare with Luke 18:9-14--He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: "Two men went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this: 'God, I thank You that I'm not like other people--greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, 'God, turn Your wrath from me--a sinner!' I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
Obviously there is no problem with public prayer since the temple complex was not exactly a private place.
Back to Matthew, if you read on there is more clarification on doing things in secret versus in public. Matthew 6:16-18--"Whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They've got their reward! But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face, so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
The point here is that fasting is something done in obedience to God, which believers ought to do willingly and joyfully. The "hypocrites" apparently wanted to show that they were suffering for God.
In both cases, with fasting and in praying, the hypocrites "got their reward," meaning the praise and attention of other people. So if they've already received their reward, they have no need of a reward from God. If your worship is not up for display for its own sake, then your reward is eternal rather than immediate and yet temporary. Public officials saying a prayer on the behalf of the public means, among other things, that they are lifting up the concerns of their constituency and trusting God to enable them to be good leaders and make wise decisions. There is no Biblical prohibition for acting in the best interest of any group of people, and that includes open prayer.
Don't think I'm giving an opinion for or against public prayer with respect to city councils and so forth. I'm just saying you can't really make a solid Biblical case against it. There might be political/social/legal concerns. As a spiritual issue, there is no problem with praying publicly AS LONG AS the sincerity and purpose of prayer is maintained over any concerns for the image and self-righteousness of the one praying.
22 Dec 2010, 8:19 am
