Somewhere in the Bible, I've read something about....those who choose to pray in public so that they can be seen by others as Holy, vs those who just go about their praying behind closed doors with no need to be seen by others. (I know I probably didn't word this properly).
2006-10-01 18:45:14 · 12 answers · asked by ? 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"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 men. I tell you the truth, they have recieved their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your roo, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:5-8
I think the keyword here, is secret. He does not want you to do things so that you recieve the praise when what you pray for has been done for someone else. He knows what we need. When we pray for someone else, he is the only one who can accomplish that, we can't. If we could we would not be needing to pray about it for them. If you want to pray with that person for that person then that is great as long as the other agrees.
2006-10-02 05:57:09 · answer #1 · answered by papad753 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I'd rather not be told or know that anyone is praying for me. According to the religion I follow, anything you do without both the other person's knowledge and consent will come back and bite you in the bum.
Prayer is a private thing and should be kept that way. Unfortunately not everyone agrees with that.
2006-10-02 05:20:50 · answer #2 · answered by Cinnamon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You worded that better than many here....
The latter.
Prayer was not meant to be a public event, but private between you and God. When you pray in public, unless you are demonstrating to those who don't know how to do it, it becomes something no longer addressed to God, regardless of what you say, and so the prayer has just as much chance of being answered as if you had never prayed.
2006-10-02 01:50:26 · answer #3 · answered by raxivar 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The story to which you are referring was a parable of Jesus where he compared a Pharisee who prayed publicly and another man who prayed in private.
Jesus said that the man who prayed publicly received his reward from the praise of men who listened to his prayer announcing how great he was. The man who prayed in private received to reward from God who heard him in secret.
Based on this I believe it's better to pray in private. Or if you feel the Lord leading you to pray for someone specific I would ask them for permission. I have never really run across someone who rejected being prayed for.
2006-10-02 01:51:03 · answer #4 · answered by mel 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have done both told the person that I would pray for them and some I just pray for anyways.if you are praying in public just to be heard and for people to think your great for the way you pray then its wrong.But if you pray in public because God leads you to do so then by all means do it.
2006-10-02 02:04:04 · answer #5 · answered by ~♥~ *CHEEKY* ~♥~ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends. Often a person will be thankful to know you are praying for them. But if you feel they won't like it, be quiet about it. Prayer is not supposed to be a tool to rile people up.
2006-10-02 01:59:12 · answer #6 · answered by The First Dragon 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it depends on your intentions. It might make someone feel relieved to know that someone is praying for them. Just depends on the people involved.
2006-10-02 01:49:05 · answer #7 · answered by yobaby 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's better to pray without saying...(the bad one will fight more with you and the person you are going to pray for...)
http://1stholistic.com/Spl_prayers/prayer_jesusprayer.htm
"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Often the prayer is compressed "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me".
May God help us be real human beings!
2006-10-02 01:54:05 · answer #8 · answered by tatal_nostru2006 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's not important that others see you pray. What is important is that you care enough to.
2006-10-02 01:49:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If they ask you to, then tell them you will.
Either than that, see ya and pray for them.
2006-10-02 01:48:16 · answer #10 · answered by Investigation Specialist 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋