Black Spirituality Religion : What did Jesus teach about public prayer?

Matthew chapter 6 has Jesus teaching to pray in private:

Matthew 6:5-6

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

But, also, John 11:41-42 has Jesus praying in public before resurrecting Lazarus from the dead. The bible even has him admitting, to God the Father, that he did it to be seen by others "that they believe that thou hast sent me".

Therein is the dilemma faced in our day. With the bible offering arguments, not unreasonable ones, for both sides of the argument, both to pray publicly and to not pray publicly, how is one to know what is God's Will on the matter of whether public prayer in public schools should be allowed by the laws of the land?

It's not a religious argument. If the US Condtitutiin establishes a separation between church and state then public schools are secular not sacred institutions.

However, this does not prevent Bible study groups or student Prayer groups from forming on campus but they cannot receive funding even though they can conduct fundraising activities and they are allowed to pray openly.

But a teacher in a public school is forbidden to lease students in prayer. This would be a violation of separation of state unless the school is a private institution which allows such activity.

In the Spirit of Sankofa,




... Such a vain attempt at creating duality in scripture, please, don't bring it here; this is a study forum and you've admitted and everyone else understands how you feel toward the Bible.

To post here is counter-productive under the circumstances... Destee

The answer to the question above is easy, and given within the context of this statement by you:"that they believe that thou hast sent me"


Jesus/Yashua/Eashoa in Matthew 6 gave a manner of praying as asked by his disciples; and through his words to the Father, his sole and singular purpose for praying in public in John 11 is, once again: "that they believe that thou hast sent me"


There is no dilemma as you would have some believe, but a dichotomy between the two scriptures... Any Bible student would agree with me for the purposes of studying.


Peace In,

Clyde, you are a moderator. That gives you some powers that others don't have. But, to avoid those powers being abused, the position carries with it the presumption that moderators hold themselves to a higher standard. If you will not honor my understanding on that, at least honor the scriptures themselves.

Luke 12: 47-48And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

I am not a Christian, nor do I subscribe to the Christian belief that the bible is inerrant. Nevertheless, I value the teachings therein, which is why I quote from them frequently. I was careful to read kemetkind's rules for participating in this forum before I started this thread. There is nothing there which precludes someone who believes as I do from participating here. There is nothing there which requires participants to be Christians, nor does it require participants to accept all points of Christian doctrine.

Please review kemetkind's rules:

You follow me from thread to thread on this personal vendetta to discredit whatever I say. And previously I have not objected to this because doing so lies within the rules. But, now, I would request that you reconsider what you are doing and why.

I created this thread out of a genuine desire to know Divine Will on this matter. I presented two views of what Jesus teaches on this not because I am trying to discredit the bible but because the bible itself presents two views on this matter. I was careful to quote verses from the bible itself to explain my indecision in this matter.

In the Spirit of Sankofa,




... Classic istlota, not addressing the substance of my posted words in response to the dilemma you cited in your initial post.

Address what I said, brother; all else you've said is erroneous and irrelevant, since you created this thread to know divine will on this matter:

As a Bible believer, I've spoken on His will, so, please explain to me what you've learned from my response.

Lastly, its quite contradictory to hold onto your beliefs that the Bible is not inerrant, yet, you value the teachings and quote scripture often... Its Reductio ad absurdum...



Peace In,