Praying in Front of other People

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The Lord Jesus Christ forbids his followers from praying in front of people.

 

 

OVERVIEW

 

In ancient times, king Solomon had a stage. It was elevated above the ground. He positioned himself at the center of the stage. With everyone looking on, he said a long prayer.

Centuries later, the Lord Jesus forbade his followers from praying in front of people.

He calls us to a prayer life that is hidden from the public eye. He calls us to go to our “inner room.”

But what is this “inner room?” What does that mean? Where is your “inner room?”

Some poeple say the “inner room” means to have a room in the house dedicated to prayer. It might be a bedroom or a closet. It is somewhere to hide away from activity and secretly commune with God. Some people find that sort of isolation quite helpful for their time of prayer.

Other people say the meaning of “inner room” is their interior self. They withdraw from the exterior world and commune with God inside them. You could go to that “inner room” any time you like, simply by closing your eyes.

However, in our day, many Christians pray in front of people all the time.

  • Preachers stand in a central area of the assembly and say long prayers.
  • Christians in restaurants pray a blessing in plain view of other people.
  • Evangelists pray on television.

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

2 Kings 4:33. He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to the LORD.

2 Chronicles 6:13. (for Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the middle of the court; and he stood on it, and knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven).

Isaiah 26:20. Go home, my people, and lock your doors! Hide yourselves for a little while until the LORD’s anger has passed. (NLT translation)

Matthew 6:5. When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward.

Matthew 6:6. But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Matthew 14:23. After he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. When evening had come, he was there alone.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.