Why do Christians go to Church and pray?

Question

In Matthew 6: versus 5 & 6, Jesus himself tells Christian how to pray. "And now about prayer. When you pray, dont be like the hypocrates who love to pray publicly on street corners and in synagogues where everyone can see them, I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get." "But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you."

This is Jesus telling you how to pray. But all the time I hear Christians praying aloud at church, at the dinner table, and if they had it thier way even in our classrooms. Evangelicals will get on national television and start praying. Umm, did you guys miss this verse?

Answer 1

Your point is actually well-taken. I think there are a lot of Christians out there whose misson in life is to show other Christians just how good of a Christian they are. Jesus was warning against this behavior in the versEs you quote in your details.

Answer 2

It is good to pray in ones prayer closet. Very good. It is good to pray about the meal. Jesus prayed over the meals he served the people. Like the fish & bread. Like the last supper, fruit of the vine & bread that was broken. Jesus prayed in the synogogue too. But when people pray in the churches to be seen by man, it doesn't get you a connection with God. But when people pray in the Church to God the Father, then the connection is truly there.

Praying on the street to be publicly seen is only rewarded by people seeing you do so. But God sees you everywhere, so you can pray anywhere in your spirit/soul minds eye, 24/7. You can pray on the street. But if the reason the prayers are for others to think you are so spiritual, there is no reward.

The whole idea of praying should be to pray to God, not to pray outloud in a public place to be seen by man, to appear so spiritual.

Answer 3

That is a lesson teaching the Lord's Prayer. You should learn it. Your verses, Matthew 6:5-8. The Lord's prayer comes right afterwards. There are in the Bible, various ways of praying. Those verses teach to not put on a show about praying, to be modest. The Lord's prayer is a nice simple prayer for this purpose.

Answer 4

Jesus and the Church are 2 different things and it is in the best interest of the Church to keep people coming to it, if they want to maintain it and their jobs. Most people will not read the bible all the way through and will accept what their local clergy says.

Having said that, there are many good reasons for those of a similar faith to meet on a regular basis. People want to connect with like minded others and want their kids to play together to help immerse a child in a community of a pariticular faith or way of life. People like the predictability of it and knowing that there is a hard structure in their week when they know they will get time to focus on their faith, when they get precious little time otherwise. Religious charities do a lot of good work for disaster victims and people in need - a burden that the government and the tax payer would have to handle otherwise. People are happy to have someone to talk to in times of need.

Seldom is an issue black and white. There are lots of ways to look at this - and there are a lot of ways to look at Christianity itself...but that is a different question.

Peace!

Answer 5

In Christianity as well as to other World Religions, prayer has two dimensions:
1. personal - it is your personal relationship with your God. You are talking to God personally
2. communal- praying to God with your fellow believers to the one you all believe you have a personal relationship with. Why include them? Jesus said, when there are two or three who gathered in my name, I Will be in your midst.
When Jesus said go to your rooms ...etc., he is talking about the personal prayer so that you will not be charge with hypocrisy. The message of the paragraph you mention is against hypocrisy

Concerning the church, the church is the proper place for prayer. Though it does not prohibit you to pray anywhere, why not go to pray in the proper place of worship just as the way you go to bed as a place to sleep. The church is also the place wherein fellow believer congregate and pray as a community. In the church you will find the believer live a community life as believers of the same faith. The stress is on community life.
Again, the passage in the bible you quoted is against hypocrisy not against praying in the church or in the public. If praying in the public is an act of hypocrisy better pray in private. But, it does not forbade praying in the church as it is

Answer 6

You take everything so literally. Jesus was saying to not be a hypocrite. Do not do things, such as pray, just so that others will glorify you. In other words, don't show off! Do not pray for things for yourself. Do not be selfish or greedy. There is a right way and a wrong way to pray. You cannot say, "Okay God, I want a million dollars" and expect to get it. True Christians want to glorify God and give Him the praise. You do not need to go to church to pray. You can pray anywhere and everywhere. It says in the Bible that we are to go out and preach the gospel ceasingly. We should not press our beliefs upon others, but we are to share the good news.

Answer 7

The way Christians pray in Church is not the same way the Pharisees prayed. It is interesting how you unbelievers can pick out scripture out of context to fit your point of view. Which shows a little knowledge can be dangerous. What does it matter to you where people pray? It's a free country.

Answer 8

the issue is not, pray in public and be a hypocrite verses pray in private and assumably not be a hypocrite.
its not about where you pray, but how you pray.

Jesus was saying, that praying with intent to be noticed of men, is a way to get reward of men.

but praying with intent to be rewarded by God is to pray in a way that pleases Him.
Jesus was not saying.. dont pray in public.. because there were many times that He did when He ministered to people for a reason of blessing food or during a religious service in prayer unto God on behalf of others.

Answer 9

No, we didn't miss this verse. I can see your point, but I believe you are misinterpreting the verse. No offense intended. See in those days, the Pharisees and religious leaders often stood on street corners and prayed loudly for all to hear and see. They were trying to draw attention to themselves intentionally so that others will think they were piously obeying the Judaic law. In reality, they were looking like hypocrites because their actions often didn't match up with their outward display of piety.

Christ was telling us that prayer should be a private thing in that it is something not to boast about publicly, but is something between us and God. Jesus did tell us to gather together to worship, pray and praise God, and the Apostle Paul admonished Christians to gather together for the purpose of worhsipping and lifting one another up in encouragement. Praying at the dinner table is not done to draw attention to one's self, but rather to come together and thank God for the food that He blessed us with. Praying out loud in church is showing God that we are united in prayer about a specific topic. The Bible says, "where 2 or more are gathered, there I will be also". When Christians pray together, they are demonstrating faith that God will honor the sincere prayers of believers who are coming together and praying together for a united purpose. It is not about being demonstrative or boastful. Jesus was condemning any sort of activity that says "look at me and how holy I am being!". He knew that our hearts often are vastly different from our outward deeds, and he wanted us to make sure we were not boasting or showing off how "holy" we are by making a public display. As long as we are sincere and not taking the focus off of God and putting it onto ourselves when we pray, then there is nothing wrong with public prayer. I would say that praying aloud on a street corner is NOT glorifying to God because people will not focus on WHAT is being said, but rather on what the person is doing and how they look while doing that. Praying in church on the other hand is putting a focus on asking God specific requests. That's the difference.

Answer 10

Christians dont go to church to pray, they go to worship God together... fellowship together.

As far as that verse, Jesus was talking to his disciples. He said that those who pray aloud would still receive their reward in Heaven.

He was teaching them how to be humbled leaders... and not seek an audience for self honor, but to lead by the spirit and for God's honor. If there was something wrong with praying out loud Jesus would not say that those who do it will receive reward in heaven for doing it.

Answer 11

Jesus is telling us not to pray so people see us pray and think that we are Godly. In other words, dont pray to receive attention from others and give them cause to think that you are a Godly person. As far as praying in church...thats where I go to worship the Lord. I not only pray there, but I also pray in private. In no way is Jesus saying that prayer in church is wrong.