Praying in public is a hard thing. There are some in the non liturgical tradition who are critical of written liturgical prayers being prayed Sunday after Sunday. While I understand, it is also true that many a non liturgical preacher stands up to pray Sunday after Sunday covering the same waterfront with words so predictable it could be last Sunday's prayer. It may not be a ritual from a book of worship, but it still bears the marks of a ritual under the guise of spontaneity. Praying in public is a hard thing.
The real difficulty in public praying is seen, or heard, as the one praying turns the praying into a commercial for the church calendar. However, if you really want me to get on a soapbox, put me in a place where the one praying turns the prayer into a political statement. If there is anything that makes me want to stand up and holler, "Stop...enough!" in the midst of a prayer, it is in those moments when the one praying forgets to Whom the prayer is directed. Prayer is not a verbal address that plays to an audience, but a word spoken to God.
Public praying should be directed toward God and it should direct those of us who are sharing in the prayer through listening toward God as well. It should not direct us toward the person praying, It is not a show or a performance, but an act of devotion toward the God of the universe. Public praying is not an opportunity to impress others with our eloquence, or to model the skill of a master wordsmith. This kind of praying brings to mind some words of Jesus, "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward." (Matthew 6:50).
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