can someone please explain why no christian i have asked will clarify this passage Matthew 6:5-8 ?

Question

i saw a preacher in the middle of town < manchester > and he was yelling his head of about repenting etc, having me Ex gf paretns as christian i know a little bit about the theology of it all, i asked him to clarify Matthew 6:5-8 and at first he blanked me then Informed me i have no business asking him that and started getting very angry ? why !!!!

The gentle man was preaching, quite agressivly as well

Answer 1

Matthew 6:5-8
5"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 received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Very good! It sounds like you got the guy's number.

However, be careful not to misapply this verse. This isn't meant to ban public prayer altogether, nor public preaching. This is about praying SPECIFICALLY TO BE SEEN BY OTHERS so that they'll think well of you. If your motive for praying in public is to show off how holy you are, don't do it. Pray in private instead. However, if you pray in public to comfort people or to help people or to instruct people, or to protect yourself, go ahead. That's how I see it.

Answer 2

I'd like to quote another scripture: Keep on asking and it will be given you (Matthew 7:7) I don't know why no other Christian answered this for you. I will attempt to make it clear.
God wants sincere, heartfelt prayers. Jesus prayed publicly, in sincerity, as did Paul and others. He also recommended private prayer. (Matthew 6:5, 6) But Jesus condemned ostentatiousness in making long prayers for a pretense, a practice into which some of the scribes had fallen. (Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47) However, Christians adopted many of the customs and practices of the Jewish synagogue—ones that God did not disapprove—and the same attitudes and postures of prayer are mentioned in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Nowhere do they give support to a facial or bodily attitude of assumed piety and sanctimoniousness. Also God does not approve of repetitious prayers, reciting the same words over and over again as if that would make God hear them.

Answer 3

The world is better place when people give others the benefit of the doubt as I will with you and assume this is a serious question.
I'm not sure what needs clarifying as I'm not sure what is unclear. The start is that Jesus is saying there is a right way to pray and a wrong way. That couldn't be a problem though maybe Jesus' qualification to answer might be. I'll assume not. Nor that those 2 types of prayers exist. I've certainly seen them. So, then -- best as I can tell -- the problem would be, What does God care how I pray ? Am I warm ?
God wants you to pray so as to care about Him and you , the relationship. He doesn't want to be used so that you look great to other people . I've known people who propose to the woman they want to marry so as to impress other people as much as they want to impress her. That would be an example.
But the absolute bedrock of the passage would be that you care to know what is a better and what is a worse way to pray. Agreed. IF you don't care, well, then what is to be confused about.

Answer 4

The answer to your question is contained within the passage itself (from "The Message"):

5"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
6"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God.

He talks about this because the religious leaders of the day were in the practice of going around praying in places where they knew they would be seen to impress people, therefore not really praying at all, and Jesus here is pointing out to his followers not to pray that way.

This has nothing to do with proclaiming the Gospel, as Christ himself told his disciples to do, and in every nation, too, which seems to be more along the lines of what the street preacher is doing.

You say you know "A little bit" about the theology of it. I would agree. You seem to know just a little bit.

Answer 5

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in
the synagogues and on the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen by men.
Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward."

These people who think to be rewarded by
God for their piety, but are doing all this piety
to be looked up to by humans, only have the
reward of worldly fame and praise, nothing
more. They will get nothing from God for this
exercize.

This does not of course, I assume, apply to
those who are praying quietly to God and
happen to be seen when that was not their
intent, the quick prayers during the day when
dealing with this and that, a normal leading
of or participating in saying grace over meals,
calling out to God for help, etc. etc., the intent
is what counts.

"But you, when you pray, go into your room,
and when you have shut your door, pray to your
Father who is in secret, and your Father who
sees in secret will reward you openly."

One of the interesting paradoxes in Christianity,
contrasts between secret and open. People
who have a regular three or even five times a
day prayer life, should do these routine prayers
and others in private and not seek public
acclaim as a holy and prayerful person.

Answer 6

I can't explain another person's behavior, but I can clarify this passage. In verse 5, Jesus prohibited his followers from making a big show of praying, trying to appear pious and holier-than-thou. Verse 6 instructs believers to pray privately, in humility, because it is just between them and God. In verse 7, I think the intent is that we are not to pray long and loud to impress people -- just so people will think that we have clout with God -- or -- that we are not to flood God with our wordy prayers, thinking that He cannot hear or will not answer us without all the hoopla. Verse 8 indicates that Jesus told his disciples that simplicity in our praying is as (or more) effective than the showy way that prayer was being practiced. Immediately after this passage, Jesus shares his pattern for how we should pray in verses 9-13.

Answer 7

If I had to guess, chances are the Christians you have asked didn't know Matthew 6:5-8 off the top of their heads.

Seems fairly clear, so I am not sure why you need clarification. Don't try to make a show of being "pious" through drawing attention to your self (either the attention of men or God). Be humble in prayer and religious life.

Answer 8

Was he PRAYING or was he PREACHING? There is a B-I-G difference! The scripture you reference is talking about praying. The people referred to in that scripture used to pray to God in public places so that those who passed by would hear them & think they were so spiritual. They were not trying to win souls or preach the gospel. They were doing it for their own glory, not out of concern for the souls of men. This man you speak of was doing no different than Jesus Christ did, going from town to town & preaching the gospel and even as we are called to do in the Bible.

Mark 16:15
"And he (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

I don't believe your claim that he scoffed your question about that passage of scripture. Anybody with an ability to differentiate between praying & preaching can figure it out.

Answer 9

First, it was very wrong of him to talk to you like that. Second, Matt. 6:5-8 says to not pray to attract attention or fame. There are some people in the church who pray very long, involved prayers for the attention it brings. But God doesn't want us to use prayer for attention. It is to communicate with God. That's why he told this parable in Luke 18:9-14.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The prayer that is prayed in earnest is precious to God!

Answer 10

Christ said prayers in public and taught others to pray so this scripture does not mean to only pray in private and not in public. Christ made it a point that it is not the purpose of prayer to just make a show of it (hypocrites...to be seen of men) or to just to use vain repetitions (saying worthless self serving things over and over again)but the true purpose of prayer is to commune with God. He also taught the following
Matthew 6
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.