Journal: Reformed Presbyterian Theological Journal
Volume: RPTJ 10:1 (Fall 2023)
Article: The Importance Of Public Praying: Restoring Prayer In God’s House
Author: Barry J. York

RPTJ 10:1 (Fall 2023) p. 53

The Importance Of Public Praying: Restoring Prayer In God’s House

Barry J. York

President and Professor of Pastoral Theology and Homiletics
Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Introduction: The Great Danger Of Public Praying

As He cleansed the temple during the Passover week leading to His crucifixion, the Lord cried out with a reminder from the prophet Isaiah: “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den” (Mark 11:17, NASB; see Isa. 56:7). Indeed, the church is to be a house of prayer.

In addressing the importance of public praying in the worship of God, a warning about the great danger immediately inherent in this subject must be issued. Perhaps an illustration will help.

On a regular route I take, I pass by a mainline church located at the corner of an intersection. On the lawn out front, a little canopy was set up with a table and a chair underneath. An older lady would sit there with a sign hanging from the table that simply said, “Prayer on the Corner.” The idea, I believe, was that if someone needed prayer, he could stop under that canopy, share his request, and receive prayer. I never saw anyone there with the little old lady, so I am not sure what took place.

When I passed by that scene, the words of Jesus would come to mind. “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full” (Matt. 6:5). I would wonder whether this church’s ministry was a legitimate expression of concern or perhaps a violation of the spirit of Jesus’s words. Indeed, the Sermon on the Mount from which I just quoted goes on to stress privacy in prayer. “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:6).

Some could read the words of our Lord and claim that they outlaw public prayer altogether. As we will see, that is not their intent. Yet they point to the great danger of such prayer: a desire to be seen by men rather than heard by God. As we address the importance of public praying, we must seek to do so in such a way that God is glorified, the church is edified, and the one praying is humbled before the throne of God.

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