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To: Baldwin77
PRAYER IS NOT A CAMPAIGN OP. 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.
23 posted on 03/14/2016 4:40:56 AM PDT by Baldwin77 (They hated Reagan too ! TRUMP TOUGH - AMERICA STRONG)
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To: Baldwin77

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.


26 posted on 03/14/2016 5:40:47 AM PDT by Baldwin77 (They hated Reagan too ! TRUMP TOUGH - AMERICA STRONG)
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To: Baldwin77
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.

If you interpret this admonition from Jesus and contrast between the pretentious public prayers of the Pharisees and hypocrites and private prayer as either a command against praying in public or a condemnation of publicly visible prayer, then you have completely missed the point of Christ's words. Yes, he was criticizing the "look at me" attitude of the religious leaders of the day who prayed loudly in the outer courtyard of the synagogue -- not because of where they prayed or the fact that others saw them but for their attitude and pride. In a different passage Jesus also compares the prayers of a Pharisee and a publican (tax-collector) that are both publicly visible. In this instance, it is also the ATTITUDE not the location of the prayer. The praying that I see in the pictures you posted looks like a man taking the time to pray with others who want to pray with and for him, which happens to be another example of the type of prayer that Jesus commands us to do -- agreeing with others and asking things in His name.

But if you want to cherry-pick your Jesus quotations, tell me what you think about your favorite guy relative to this quotation:
Matthew 6:19-20
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

31 posted on 03/14/2016 8:11:53 AM PDT by VRWCmember
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