Verse in Matthew

[whatsthetruth]

Hello chaps, I have a few questions pertaining to these particular verses and here they are…

Matt. 6:5-15

5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

I attend a college and occasionally there will be men in the main walking area outside preaching the mercy and love of our dearest Jesus Christ. My question is what is the problem with this if they are trying to reach us a people and what is their reward?

Another,

6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

I often pray in secret but I also pray in front of people, although it be silent, whenever I am about to eat a meal at a restaurant or the like. My 2nd question is why does it matter if we pray in public or in secret?

 

[MarkThompson]

I attend a college and occasionally there will be men in the main walking area outside preaching the mercy and love of our dearest Jesus Christ. My question is what is the problem with this if they are trying to reach us a people and what is their reward?

There is no problem with it (Scripturally speaking, that is). You said preaching; that is not the same thing as praying.

I often pray in secret but I also pray in front of people, although it be silent, whenever I am about to eat a meal at a restaurant or the like. My 2nd question is why does it matter if we pray in public or in secret?

It does not matter. Jesus did not literally mean that the problem is people who pray in public; it is a metaphor. The problem is people who pray in public “that they may be seen of men.” That is, people who make a public show of piety so that they can gain the esteem of other people. “They have received their reward”: they may gain esteem, but they do not gain any favor with God by their insincere and self-interested actions.

Please note that it is a different situation when people pray in public (or, let’s say, when we have a religious procession or a prayer vigil), not to gain person esteem for ourselves, but to bear public witness to the faith, to evangelize, and so on. The point Jesus is making in this passage – and the same theme, in variations, crops up repeatedly in the Gospels – is that doing something for yourself profits you nothing more, but doing something for others, or for God, is an act of love and gains the favor of God. Therefore the question to ask when someone is out in public praying is whether he is doing it to look good in the eyes of others, or for some greater purpose outside himself.

 

[Crumpy]

I think we are to avoid prayer that is done simply for display to others.

We can and should pray in all our private moments, especially offering thanksgiving and praise.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in his first volume of Jesus of Nazareth says that we have a right and duty to pray for our needs.

The fourth part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is about prayer. There’s a lot there about prayer, more than I thought. I’m not yet finished with my first read-through.

The Jewish Bible commentaries cannot find an explicit command to pray. but, they presume that this is a command for a number of reasons. Moses prayed. Others prayed, There’s a whole book of Psalms (songs) which are all prayers.

The Catechism highlights the prayer of the humble man who prays “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Fr. Benedict Groeschel (EWTN) says if he gets to speak to the Lord when he dies, the first thing he wants to say is “I’m sorry.”

Others have said that if you don’t otherwise pray in your lifetime, you ought to at least pray “Thank You.”

 

[AlanFromWichita]

They had one room buildings, so Jesus wasn’t talking about into a physical “private room” or “closet” but into a state of mind where you are focused only on God and not in your outward displays. You let go of all your normal train of thoughts, which are of the world.

This is why “silent” or “contemplative” prayer corresponds. (CCC 2700-2724) Here we are detaching ourselves from our own consciousness-stream of thoughts, so that the Lord can actually access us without our ego-driven brains in the way.

CCC 2718
Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts.