"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."
Today's lesson contains another one of the most misunderstood and abused passages of scripture that is to be found anywhere in the New Testament. In today's quote, Jesus makes it glaringly clear that we are NOT to pray in public, yet in every denomination, type, or form of "church" I've ever heard of, public prayer is a part of the "worship" program. As this lesson so clearly demonstrates, to rise in the midst of a crowd and "lead" prayer stands in blatant contradiction to what Jesus directly instructed His followers to do.
The practice of public prayer gains no more for the one offering the prayer, or for those for whom the prayer is offered, than does a correctly offered private prayer. Public prayer can only draw undue attention to the person "leading" the prayer just as Jesus warned against; "thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." as stated in James 5:16 in part, should be our motivation to pray only in the manner that Jesus authorized and so clearly instructed us to do in today's lesson.~
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