Public Prayer
Jesus denounced the religious leaders for seeking to gain recognition and praise from the public by praying in the public sphere. (Matthew 6:5-6) So why would we as disciples of Jesus want to have a practice in our services that seems to run contrary to what our Lord has said? While we must not dare to dismiss our Lord's admonition to a private prayer life, the catholicity of Holy Scripture has a broader vision for prayer than just the 'closet;' nations are destined to provoke one another to seek quickly the Lord in prayer. (Zechariah 8:20-23) How can this be? It is because the Church is a Trinitarian body, one and many. Therefore what a church does as a body in her assembly is analogous to what an individual follower of Christ does in his or her private devotions.