After doing some reading in the New Testament, in order to gain some perspective on the Old Testament, I came across these passages.
"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." -JESUS in Matthew 6:6
“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” - JESUS in Matthew 18:19
Now all of these sayings I found in the book of Matthew and yet they tell a different account on how to pray. So which one is it? Are we to pray alone in the recess of our own private place or are we to keep prayer within a trusted companionship, or are we to follow the old go tell it on the mountain scenario and meet up with our "church family" circle to raise up our prayers in public rejoice?
The Bible offers us many different ways to do things like prayer, but when one-way conflicts with the other, how do we know which one is right?
Good post, Dominic.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can resolve the apparent contradictions here, but I do have some thoughts which might allow for those above three verses to be harmonized.
Here's my take on how I think they can possibly work together....
The first passage about praying in secret seems to be more of a rebuttal to the religious showboating that was common among many at that time. People often gathered together to pray in public for the purpose of being seen. Very similar to the self-righteous acts of some today. I don't think he was condemning public prayer in and of itself, but rather the practice of showmanship. Jesus doesn't seem (to me) to be advocating solitude & secrecy as the sole or preferred way to pray, but offering it as an antidote to the "hey look at us over here" approach of the hypocrites. I think the verses before can shed some light on it. Here's verse 6 along with the verse which preceded it;
5)And 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. 6)But 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 think the larger point was to remind people that the deeper rewards of spiritual practice come from the connection they help us to establish with God and not merely the praise and respect they generate from people. A still much needed lesson today.
I think the second passage you quoted (Matt 18:20) could be taken as a testament to the power of communal faith & corporate prayer. Jesus seems to indicate that there is a spiritual power in our ability to agree and collaborate. The passage doesn't exclude other forms of prayer (i.e. meditating silently by one's self) as illegitimate, but points us towards a powerful metaphysical principle that can be harnessed to amplify the results of our prayer life. This could be Jesus’ Robert Deniro styled "bring all your ammo to the gun fight" speech. The TK translation would read "Pray whenever & however you can, but if you got some backup, don't hesitate to use it."
The 3rd passage (Matt 18:20) is the very next verse in the sequence and it provides the logic for verse 19. It is the answer to the question "why is there such power in corporate prayer?" Jesus provides that answer by declaring that his presence is uniquely accessible when two(or more) gather in his name. I believe something like this is what's often experienced in our increased ability to feel the energy of something we're passionate about when we join up with others to discuss or celebrate it together. Somehow the energy of what we appreciate can sometimes seem to be more evident or present when we synchronize our faith with others.
So, here's how I would try to answer the question;
When you're alone, pray alone. Don't use the fact that you're not around your friends as a reason to feel your prayers are unacceptable to God. When you're around others or at least have access to them, devote at least a portion of that time to inviting the Creator to be a part of your affairs. Tap into the power of communal faith by joining hands (figuratively for the germophobes?) and sincerely asking for what you need. Include the needs of others in your prayers too. I would say the process is similar to being a good athlete, artist, or anything. You MUST practice alone AND you MUST draw from the inspiration of others. It's up to us to use our own spiritual discernment to find the proper balance.
Based on thoughts stimulated by this blog, here's a question I now have?
ReplyDeleteThe practice of corporate prayer has existed for a long time. Jesus’ promise was pretty strong. He didn't merely say that God would see what He could do, but he explicitly stated that "That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching ANY THING (emphasis mine) that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” Am I missing something or is it true that most Christians who go to church and pray are not experiencing THAT level of power in their lives? I've seen groups of Christians gather together to pray for jobs, finances, better health, harmonious relationships, etc. only to observe them still continuing to suffer lack in those same areas. Are we misinterpreting what the Bible meant by "any thing" or are we somehow applying the principle incorrectly? or perhaps more troubling, is the lack of "power" evident in the average churchgoer an indictment against the truth of this verse? Any thoughts, anyone?