What's the point of praying in public?

Praying in public is a feature of every Christ-following, Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church—that might be prayer led from the front in a church gathering, or at the prayer meeting, or in a Bible study or home group, or a prayer partnership or triplet.

In its broadest sense, public prayer means praying aloud in front of one other person. Yet there are many Christians who have never done even this—and many more who might go to a prayer meeting but have never prayed in one themselves.

So, is anything lost when Christians don’t pray in public? If so, what?

Why should we pray in public?

1. Jesus did it (e.g. Mark 6 v 41; Luke 10 v 21-23; John 17).
2. Jesus told his disciples to pray together (e.g. Luke 22 v 39-46).
3. The church in Acts did it (e.g. Acts 4 v 23-31).
4. Paul teaches about how Christians should pray when they meet together (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14—more on that in a moment).

At this point we need to ask: Why then, in the Sermon on the Mount, did Jesus tell his disciples to pray in secret?

Answer: Because he was teaching that his followers must be different from the hypocrites who dominated Jewish religious life, and who only prayed in public because they were seeking to impress others with their religious devotion rather than speaking to God. Praying in secret is the sign that we pray for the right reasons: there is no other advantage that we gain from praying privately other than the fact that we are talking to God.

Isn’t praying in public the job of the leaders?

Some people tend to view prayer as a “priestly” act: something done by those seen as properly qualified experts on behalf of so-called “ordinary Christians”.

But the Bible gives no foundation for such a view. Paul commands “men everywhere to pray” (1 Timothy 2 v 8), and gives instructions for how both men and women should pray (1 Corinthians 11 v 4-5).

What’s the purpose of praying in public?

Is there something that public praying achieves that private prayer doesn’t—something that is lost when Christians don’t pray together? Yes, it seems that there is.

In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul tells the Christians in Corinth that when they meet together, they should speak intelligibly because they are not only speaking to God but to one another—which they should seek to use the gift of prophecy in their meetings over the gift of speaking in tongues (v 5).

A close look at Paul’s teaching shows that speaking in tongues is actually praying; he says, “Anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God” (v 2). But although people are praying to God in tongues, Paul doesn’t commend this because the words are unintelligible to everyone else. Those words cannot strengthen, encourage and comfort believers, or convict unbelievers of their sin. He concludes, “In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (v 19).

This reveals the purpose of praying publicly. Like every other part of a church meeting, our public praying is to communicate God’s truth to those who are with us so that Christians can be built up in their faith, and unbelievers can hear the good news of Jesus. That’s what we’re aiming to do when we open our mouths to pray in public.

Public praying is to communicate God’s truth to those who are with us.

An important witness

When you’ve been a Christian for a few years, it’s easy to forget how church can appear to a non-Christian newcomer—the things that strike them because they are so unexpected. One of those things is how true Christians pray, whether that’s in a service, a small group, before a meal or in an emergency. They see the reverential yet intimate, trusting relationship of Christians towards their Father God. They see that Christians can talk to God anywhere, anytime, about anything, and need no special words or rituals. It’s a powerful witness to the difference that the Christian gospel makes in our lives.

“Real prayer not only connects each of us with our Father in heaven, but can also be the means by which God transforms other lives, growing and building up the whole body of Christ’s people.” (Real prayer: Connecting with our heavenly Father)

So praying in public is an important ministry to others—but for many of us, it can be hard to gather the courage!

Next week on the blog we’ll have five practical tips to help you get started with praying in public. Join the conversation and comment below. You can also like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.