“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly<\/em>” (Matthew 6:5-6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe key phrase to notice here is “that they may be seen by men.” There is a difference between people seeing you pray and saying a prayer to be seen by others. Solomon did not sin when he offered a prayer to God at the dedication of the temple: “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven<\/em>” (I Kings 8:22). The purpose of Solomon’s prayer was not to show off. He was offering a prayer of thanksgiving to God on behalf of all present. Stephen prayed before unbelievers (Acts 7:60). Paul prayed with others (Acts 20:36).<\/p>\nIn a restaurant, if the food is coming at uneven times, we will say a private prayer. If the food is delivered at once and we deem that it is possible to say a prayer without disturbing others, we will do so but keep the volume so that just those at the table can hear what is being said. Basically, the prayer is for those who wish to thank God before a meal, and are not done because we want others to see as Christians. If the only time you say a prayer is when there are others present, then there is a problem.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you, Mr. Hamilton!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 prayer be said before eating…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-42486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34429,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-prayer-be-said-before-eating-a-meal\/","url_meta":{"origin":42486,"position":0},"title":"Must a prayer be said before eating a meal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it good to say grace before eating a meal whether it be big or small?\u00a0 Would it be a sin if I don't give thanks to God before eating? Answer: Being thankful to God is important. We need to express in prayer your recognition of where our blessings\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":42486,"position":1},"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":28449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-bad-to-keep-on-praying-the-same-prayer-all-over-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":42486,"position":2},"title":"Is it bad to keep on praying the same prayer all over again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This is a question about prayer. Is it bad to keep on praying the same prayer all over again? It could be from desperation, or it can be another reason. For example, you have a problem or worry you share with the Lord and you think that you are\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":32093,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-is-the-correct-lords-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":42486,"position":3},"title":"Which is the correct Lord’s Prayer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The Lord's Prayer: \u00a0Protestants say \"for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever\" but Catholics do not. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Which is correct? Thanks much. Answer: \"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On\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":25938,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-pray-your-kingdom-come-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":42486,"position":4},"title":"Can we pray “Your kingdom come” today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As a member of the Lord's church, I have taken the position that today, we should not pray for \"Thy kingdom come\" as Jesus taught his disciples on how they should pray.\u00a0 The reason being is because today, the kingdom has already been established (Colossians 1:13). At the present\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":36679,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-sit-while-praying\/","url_meta":{"origin":42486,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to sit while praying?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Believers in Orthodox churches have the biblical truth about body position during prayer. They stand, or kneel, but not sit, which I was taught is spiritual arrogance before the Almighty. Orthodoxy has lots of truth that evangelical protestants don't. Remember that Jesus stood to pray. The apostolic church never\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\/42486","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=42486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}