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 Dear
bro. Turner:
Should there be any difference in the wording of a
private prayer and a prayer led publicly? HA
Reply:
When
Jesus condemned praying to be seen of men (Matt. 6:5) he used as
contrast, “enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret—.” But this intimate, private,
direct prayer to God was not a prohibition of public prayer, properly
done. Nor did He say that privacy necessarily eliminates hypocrisy or
self-centeredness. Note the Pharisee’s prayer “with himself”—
Lu. 18:10-f. There is much more to acceptable prayer than certain
externals so often emphasized.
Private
prayer may be repetitious without being “vain” (Matt. 6:7). Jesus
prayed three times, “saying the same words.” (Matt. 26:44) In His
earnestness “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood,” (Lu.
22:44). On a more joyous occasion Jesus “rejoiced in spirit” (Greek
signifies “exhulted”) saying, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth,—”(Lu. 10:21). As would be expected, our private
prayers are less formal, more moved by emotions, and may be made
acceptable by virtue of God’s insight into our hearts (Rom. 8:26-27),
even when “we know not what we should pray for as we ought.”
But
public prayer must be understandable to those people who hear it. In 1
Cor. 14: Paul reproved those who overlooked the listener, saying, “how
shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving
of thanks, seeing he
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understandeth not what thou sayest?” (vs. 16).
When one “leads in prayer” in our public assemblings, he is not
to “forget all others.” In effect, he is speaking for them;
although only those who follow the prayer and mentally make the same
petition, really pray to God.
It
may shock some to realize that Jesus prayed “to be heard of men”
in a sense. “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I
knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which
stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”
(Jn. 11:41-42) And the early church quoted scripture in public
prayer, saying “Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven and
earth and the sea and all that in them is; Who by the mouth of thy
servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage— etc.” (Acts
4:24-30; see Psm. 2:1-3).
There
is good reason to voice, in public prayer, some things understood
and not consciously framed in private petition. “In Christ’s
Name” is not a verbal formula — something which makes prayer
acceptable by the saying. One need not utter “in the name
of Lord Jesus” in order to do acceptable deeds. (Col. 3:17) But we
should, with good reason, express in public prayer what we
are doing. Likewise, our praise of God may take a form
publicly which we would not necessarily express privately.
Objectively note the wording of prayers cited above. Do you
honestly see a formula there?
Finally,
unless our prayer is the pure cry of a contrite heart, neither word
nor posture can wend it to God.
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