Pleasant good morning,<\/p>\n
I’d appreciate some guidance, please.\u00a0I have observed prayers in the comment section under news articles of tragic incidents. When tragedy strikes I could, in the privacy of my home, say a prayer for those involved, and believe that God hears my prayers. However, others are posting their prayers on Facebook pages and WhatsApp Status.<\/p>\n
The argument for this practice could be:<\/p>\n
However, what about Matthew 6:5?\u00a0This has been on my mind for years now, but when I saw a brother respond to a sister’s prayer request by posting the actual prayer in the Facebook comment section. I realized that I needed clarity on this topic.<\/p>\n
I would be most grateful if you could provide some guidance.<\/p>\n\t
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 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. 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<\/em>” (Matthew 6:1-6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Jesus was not forbidding practicing charity and prayers in public. What he warned against was doing righteous acts in front of people for the purpose of being noticed.<\/p>\n
The Bible is filled with people’s prayers, so writing out what you prayed for others to read is not wrong. If you want the person you are praying for to know what you asked of God on their behalf, I see nothing wrong with letting them know.\u00a0 But if you are writing them down so others will see you as a religious person, then the motivation is wrong.<\/p>\n
Since you and I can’t tell\u00a0why<\/em> people are posting their prayers, it is best to assume that it is for good reasons. “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 4:5).<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Many thanks, Brother Hamilton.\u00a0 I truly appreciate you taking the time to respond.<\/p>\n
I will from this moment assume the best and will no longer be disturbed by published prayers.<\/p>\n
Again, thank you, not just for the response to my question but for many others that you’ve answered. When I seeking additional information online, I usually include La Vista Church of Christ in the search engine.<\/p>\n
May God continue to bless you!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Pleasant good morning, I’d appreciate some guidance, please.\u00a0I have observed prayers in the comment section under news articles of tragic incidents. When tragedy strikes I could, in the privacy of my home, say a prayer for those involved, and believe that God hears my prayers. However, others are posting their prayers on Facebook pages…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[418,1510,126],"class_list":["post-32077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-hypocrites","tag-prayers","tag-pride"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19458,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unanswered-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":32077,"position":0},"title":"Unanswered Prayers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Lewis Willis via\u00a0Guardian of Truth; April 4, 1991; Vol. XXXV, No. 7; pp. 193, 215 When I think of prayer, I think of it as the very essence of the Christian's relationship with God. It is our link of communication with him, as the New Testament is his link\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/prayer-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":66225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-for-a-church-to-pray-together-silently\/","url_meta":{"origin":32077,"position":1},"title":"Is it proper for a church to pray together silently?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, brother Jeffery, Thanks for always answering questions. They've been helpful to me and the people around me. I want to ask you a question about the orderliness of prayer in the church. Can the church pray such that a time is given during worship, such as 10\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92254,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-hide-behind-your-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":32077,"position":2},"title":"Don\u2019t Hide Behind Your Prayers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry We're called to be people of prayer. Jesus Himself taught that we \"ought always to pray and not lose heart\" (Luke 18:1). However, if we are honest, sometimes our prayers are merely a pious way of being inactive. It is easy to hide behind the sincerity of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-pray-individual-prayers-together-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":32077,"position":3},"title":"Can we pray individual prayers together in worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Brother Jeffrey, Please, I want to know from Scriptures about mass prayer in New Testament worship.\u00a0Can we pray together, when we come together, but each one prays his or her own prayer? Thank you. Answer: Worship as a church is distinct from individual worship. In a church service, everything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13583,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-prayers-only-be-made-for-things-that-bring-god-glory\/","url_meta":{"origin":32077,"position":4},"title":"Should prayers only be made for things that bring God glory?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been struggling (perhaps not the best word) lately regarding my prayer life.\u00a0 I wonder if you could share some insights into my thoughts.\u00a0 I don't know that I have an answer, just questions. It occurs to me that I see a pattern in several locations in Scripture from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21080,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-keep-my-thoughts-from-wandering-during-my-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":32077,"position":5},"title":"How do I keep my thoughts from wandering during my prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When I try to pray, I cannot always pay full attention. My mind wanders many times. I am cautious about my prayers, but I still drift away in my thoughts. Answer: When you read through the prayers recorded for us in the Bible, what becomes noticeable is that most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32077\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}