I sure can use your help. I have friends who keep wanting me to join this or that prayer group. They send attachments to many websites that call for prayer on various subjects. I tell them I pray for many of these subjects, but I do it on my own.<\/p>\n\t
“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 6:5-6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It is one thing to be a part of a group where people mention those in need of prayers. It is another thing to be a part of a group where people send out their prayers for everyone to see. Whether they realize it or not, the latter group is putting their religion on display.<\/p>\n
One of the nice things about email and posts is that you don’t have to respond. If someone posts something to me that I don’t want on my newsfeed, I delete it. I don’t explain. I just remove it. If someone sends me an email about something I don’t want to be bothered with, I delete it. If they repeatedly do so, I have my email system automatically file their notes in the Junk box. You don’t have to explain your choices and if someone does press (which rarely happens), then use it as a teaching opportunity and cite Jesus’ statement on prayer.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I sure can use your help. I have friends who keep wanting me to join this or that prayer group. They send attachments to many websites that call for prayer on various subjects. I tell them I pray for many of these subjects, but I do it on my own. Answer: “When you pray,…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510,1513],"class_list":["post-38088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers","tag-relationships"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32077,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-to-publish-your-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":38088,"position":0},"title":"Is it proper to publish your prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":42486,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-appropriate-to-say-a-prayer-in-a-restaurant\/","url_meta":{"origin":38088,"position":1},"title":"Is it appropriate to say a prayer in a restaurant?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Mr. Hamilton! My husband and I have been studying the book of Matthew, and we have a question about Matthew 6:5-6. \u00a0How do these verses apply to saying a prayer of thanks before a meal in a restaurant? \u00a0We have read your answer to the question, \"Must a\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":23242,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-people-praying-in-front-of-schools\/","url_meta":{"origin":38088,"position":2},"title":"What do you think about people praying in front of schools?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some of my friends, during the holidays, are going to colleges and praying in front of the colleges. Is there any use in doing this? Answer: \"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the\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":59568,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-simple-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":38088,"position":3},"title":"A Simple Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by L.A. Stauffer via The Jackson Drive Reporter, March 15, 2009. Bible students may be struck with amazement that a body of Jewish followers would ask Jesus to teach them to pray. These were men of a nation that grew up with prayer. It was a staple of their home\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":47122,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-think-god-hears-every-prayer-i-pray\/","url_meta":{"origin":38088,"position":4},"title":"Do you think God hears every prayer I pray?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think God hears every prayer I pray? Is He busy sometimes answering someone else? Why does the Bible say in some verses \"God heard their shout?\" Is that just the way it was written? I could find the verses, but I'm sure you remember. Answer: \"Now this\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":56948,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holy-spirits-intercessory-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":38088,"position":5},"title":"The Holy Spirit’s Intercessory Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tanner Campbell In this article, we will put Romans 8:26 under a full investigation. The text explains that \"the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38088","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=38088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}