Carlsbad Current-Argus
Rev. David Wilson Rogers
May 8, 2022·3 min read

Christians who pray can be some of the most powerful forces in creation. Yet, like many powerful forces, the act of praying is one that can also be very dangerous and destructive if it is not used properly. Unfortunately, much of what passes for prayer within Christianity is not a faithful use of the amazing tool God has bestowed upon humanity.

Perhaps one of the most dangerous expressions of prayer is the public prayer. Fundamentally, there is little necessarily wrong with praying in public—but the heart and purpose must be in tune with Scripture and God’s will. In the modern public arena, frequently such prayers fall short. Rather than being priestly communications with God on behalf of others, public prayers often become showcase spectacles. The message is not one of heartfelt communication with God, but a performance intended to captivate an audience. In much of modern American Christianity, the genuine freedoms we enjoy as citizens of a nation that allows for the free expression of religion, become opportunities to exercise the hypocrisy of public prayer.

Prayers that take on the scandal of public performance violate the very principle laid out by Jesus in Matthew 6:5-15. When pontificating preachers and people praying stand in highly visible places—from busy street corners to football fields—and heap on heavy phrases of seemingly godly intent, it taints the power of prayer. This is why authentic prayer needs to be done in secret.

The language of prayer is also very odd. It is our most intimate and meaningful means of intimate communication with God. The Divine’s love for humanity is so great that prayer is a generous gift for us to be able to simply be in prayerful communion with one another. The most powerful prayers are those that resonate as a conversation with someone we know and love intimately. Yet, for many, prayers become this formulary chant of repetitive phrases, constant echoes of “Father God,” affirmations of doctrinal beliefs, and a litany of telling God what to do. One may ask, is that how one would talk to their human parent?

Prayer is not simply a time to talk to God. Far more relevant is a prayer time that chooses to intentionally listen to God. Quiet meditation, faithful contemplation and study of scripture, and meaningful service in God’s name are powerful forms of prayer that are often overlooked. Since they do not necessarily match the public model of prayer so overused in American churches, it becomes discounted in the hearts and lives of many faithful.

Another aspect of prayer that is often overlooked is the powerful model of prayer exemplified in the Bible itself through the book of Psalms. In the Psalms, the people praying are not afraid to say how they feel and even shake an angry fist at God in outrage because God is not responding in the way they feel things should go. In the Psalms, the one praying may God for horrible things and may ask God for wonderful things. In all the Psalms, there is no formulary standard by which the faithful speak with God, but there is a common foundation—authenticity. The Psalm Prayers are heart-felt, authentic explorations of the human condition with the One who created humanity in the Divine image.

Prayer is powerful. Public prayer has relevant meaning an purpose, but it must be done with faithful authenticity, spiritual integrity, and genuine intimacy with the God who loves us enough to make one-on-one communication possible.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/public-prayer-still-prayer-done-112907411.html