Quote:
Originally Posted by BigElCat
Ha.
Anyone can privately pray at any time, any place. It's allowing others to see you, and know what you're doing that's an issue.
Christ said to only pray in private, not showing off to other people.
The coach defied the teaching of Jesus. I hope he wasn't praying for the other team to lose. And the powers of evil have now made it legal.
But it's not like the kids are being forced to do it.
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That's misconstruing Matthew 6:5. The text is this:
“
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 … but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen.”
These words in context are dismissive of folks who pray or go to church to make a public display of their faith for their own purposes. This type of display is not a prayer to God but putting yourself and your desire to appear "righteous" ahead of God.
This doesn't mean its wrong or "defies the teachings of Jesus" to pray with others. It does mean that prayers should be sincere and for the right motives.
There are instances in the bible where Jesus was witnessed in prayer. In fact, in Luke 11:1, after witnessing Jesus in prayer, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.