Quote:

Matthew 6 5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in sec

ret will reward you.

So I was thinking of praying over a friend and brother in need that I was going to be meeting, when I began to consider where I was going to do this. I have no problem praying wherever I need to, when I need to. However, I began to think about the setting and was I doing it in public more to make a statement or should I pray over him when we were out in the parking lot and away from most people. Maybe a more intimate setting. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. I did decide to do it in the parking lot but am still in thought over this, as well as prayer.

You already know my thoughts on this, but I will post them anyway. I think this scripture is very clear; private is best. Because even if you are not doing it for public recognition what if the one you are praying over is uncomfortable and rather than being focussed on the prayer they are thinking about where they are and who may be watching...in a sense you rob them of that moment with God.

But again, I think the scripture you gave leaves little
To debate!

See I kinda agree with you but I don't think you are grasping what I'm saying, fully. I'm definitely not wanting to pray in public for attention... I could care less. In Matthew, it appears to be talking about your private prayer life. Of course going on the street corner and praying would be rather foolish and arrogant. But when you are with a brother or a sister in public and they need prayer, is it "wrong" to pray for them right there, based on this scripture... or for that manner, any other scripture?

My biggest thing is that I don't want to be ashamed to represent Christ while in public. Wouldn't it then stand to be true that if I was only doing it because the brother or sister needed praying for and not for any type of glorification of myself, that it would be good to represent our Father in heaven?

See now, that's dead on what I was talking about and wondered if any of y'all felt the same. I LOVE to pray for people and have no problem praying anywhere and at any time but I always feel that it's a lot more intimate when done in private. However, like Myles mentioned, there are certainly times for prayer in public. I guess it depends on the different types of prayer... which would be a good study, I think!

I think that both situation and motive should be carefully considered when determining whether to pray in public or in private. One consideration that was mentioned is we have to consider the feelings of the one being prayed for. Some things were meant to be prayed for more intimately I think.

Well first off...LOVE to see you posting rvbuck!

Here is another great example of public prayer...being a positive. After the return of the Israelites from Babylonian captivity, Ezra was so overwhelmed by the knowledge that the Israelites had left the worship of the true God that he prayed and wept bitterly before the house of the Lord.

Quote:

Ezra 10:1 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly.

So intense was his prayer that it prompted “a very large assembly of men, women, and children” to gather with him and weep bitterly. However, as with my last example this was done among "believers" this is made clear because they were convicted by his prayers, and his sadness for his people.

Robert, I agree with you and Myles both. I think the conclusion that we can come to is that our motives have to be right and clear in what we're doing, as well as taking into consideration the feelings of the person we're praying for. For example, if we're praying for someone that they be delivered from a pornography addiction, probably the best place to do that would not be right in the middle of a coffee house.

As to prayer in public, it seems to me that for the most part and according to the examples that Myles provided, it is generally used when there is a godly congregation coming together in the name of the Lord. Also things like sporting events and such. So long as we remember to honor God in it and not to pray like that Nascar preacher did. ALWAYS honoring the Lord!

I think we need to make sure we aren't praying in public to be seen of men. I think this includes "being a witness." Sometimes, this gets really tricky. Part of this is about being led by the Spirit!

Exactly Sue! I found some examples of this in Hannah and Daniel which illustrate that it is possible to be misunderstood or even persecuted for praying publicly. Like we have all said here...as with all prayer, public prayer should be offered with the correct attitude and motive. God-honoring public prayer is good, self indulgent prayer...is bad. Okay, on to my point. Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, was childless for years, enduring the shame and persecution that childlessness brought to women in Bible times.

Quote:

1 Samuel 1:1-6 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, can Ephrathite. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Now this man used to go up each year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. She went regularly to the Temple to pleed to God to provide her with a child, praying desperatly out of “great anguish and grief.” So heartfelt was her prayer that Eli, the priest, perceived her as being drunk!

Quote:

1 Samuel 1:10-16 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as pa worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”

Here is an example of public prayer being misinterpreted. Hannah’s prayer was righteous, and her heart was in the right place. She was not trying to draw attention to herself, but was simply distraught and overwhelmed with the need to pray. Eli thought she was drunk, but that was his mistake, not her sin. Which this convicts me a little, because I have been guilty of rolling my eyes when I feel someone is going "over the top" with their prayer...even in church! So like Eli...that is on me, not the one praying. Besides this prayer of Hannah while it was in fact in public...was within the church. This should be a place we can go to do this...this should be a "public place" where we can feel exposed and be open!

Daniel’s public prayer was an occasion for his enemies to persecute him and attempt to have him killed. Daniel excelled in his duties as one of the administrators under King Darius to such a degree that the King was contemplating making him head over all the kingdom.

Quote:

Daniel 6:1-3 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

This infuriated the other administrators so much that they looked for a way to bring Daniel down. They encouraged Darius to issue a decree forbidding his subjects from praying to anyone other than the King for the next thirty days. The penalty for disobeying was to be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel, however, continued to pray so openly to God that he could be seen at his bedroom window doing so. Daniel prayed in a way that not only was visible to others, but exposed him to his enemies. However, he clearly knew that God was honored by his prayer, so he didn’t give up his custom. He didn’t put the opinions and even the threats of men above his desire to obey the Lord.

First, let me say that I LOVE Destiny's response. Way to go, little lady! The Holy Spirit walks with you and leads you in prayer in the proper moments and it's clear that you listened and prayed when he wanted you to, when you prayed for your friend! Never let anyone tell you otherwise!

I really love all the comments here and I have to say that it appears to be all conformation as to what I was feeling in the beginning. Which is to say that I believe that so long as we are in the right spirit, we are good to go!

Thoughts?

If I am praying in public just to show that I can then I would check the condition of my heart.

I think what stood out most to me in this was a simple illustration. If I were walking down the road and a man was obviously dehydrated and in desperate need of water, but was embarrased to be seen in his current condition, and I actually had the source of his relief with me then I would atleast offer him the option to use my source on the spot. If he weren't comfortable for whatever reason in the moment then I might suggest moving to a more comfortable spot like under a tree or on a bench or indoors. I wouldn't want my offer to be a "buy it now" deal and if you don't take my offer now then the offer is no good.

Applying the example above to your situation Hank.....I would simply ask the other person if they mind that I pray with them in the parking lot or would they be more comfortable if we sat in the car together or something.

You obviously had a source of relief for their condition and your heart and motive was sincere. I don't know that it was a matter of denying Christ or being ashamed of praying in public.

If in fact you never offered the source of relief to that person in his/her condition and you knew that you should......well that is a problem.

Love y'all!!

Jared

Exactly my point Jared! I think that is dead on.