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Why is there corporate prayer if Jesus said:?
"When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, 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 in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!" ~Matthew 6:5-8
Jesus also never gives any examples of standing in a circle asking everyone to hold hands and bow their heads while everyone says a bit of a prayer. In fact, he says to do the opposite.
Am I wrong to say corporate prayer is actually against the teachings of Jesus?
2 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
As you just displayed with Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus intended prayer to be personal and your relationship with God - not to pray so people can see you praying and they think "Oh, he must be a good Christian/Muslim/etc". Basically, the way his passage speaks to me it is just saying pray for yourself and God - do not pray to be rewarded for commitment or to be seen. But standing in a circle, holding hands, bowing your head and offering up a bit of prayer each is nothing God would get mad at - so i doubt Jesus would either. It's just a way of coming together and praying - sharing in the presence of God together rather than doing it solitary.
I understand your point though, and any form of forced-prayer(even if it's a Mother saying "Quick, go pray before bedtime" to a child that doesn't want to pray) would contradict the whole point of praying and go against God and Jesus. But you can pray together - as long as you, personally, want to pray and not to be seen praying.
- SentinelLv 71 decade ago
Jesus also said `Where two or three are gathered in My name ,there am I in their midst` so plainly He was referring to the attitude of the self pious Pharisee`s who wanted the adulation of the peoples.
