Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Concerning prayer, Jesus says:
Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
I hate praying in public ... it feels so phony to me.
I have rarely done this myself. When I travelled and had meetings for radio audience, I did not begin the meeting with a formal prayer. I just walked onto the platform and began speaking that which I felt God had put into my ear at the moment.
Once a neighbor asked me to Thanksgiving dinner. She asked me if I would pray before the meal. I remember telling her that I try not to be that hypocritical. She got another woman at the meal to pray. I just sat there. I felt this woman was basically praying to the people at the dinner and not to God. That's the way public prayers often turn out.
I once played bridge and they would have dinners from time to time and one man was always asked to pray before the dinner. I really hated this. At the beginning of his prayer, he would bow his head and close his eyes (as did most people in the room). Then after he spoke a few words, he would pull a note card out of his pocket and "pray" a long time. I assume he had a list on the note card of items to speak of. His "prayer" was more like a sermon.
On football field in USA, players often cross themselves "for luck" (religious superstition). Some kneel down and bow their head and are obviously praying. TV cameras love to show them praying. They seem "so nice." And football is a rough, violent sport and the organizers want to make it seem as nice as possible. I hate this.
At one point in time, I lived in Clovis, NM (USA). The people across the street did home schooling. One day I noticed a group of about 15 adults and teen-agers standing in a circle in front of their house. (It reminded me of witchcraft which I have read about in books.) They were holding hands and had their head bowed, obviously praying, obviously to be seen of men otherwise they would have done this inside their house or in their fenced back yard. I hated this.
*****
Matthew 6:6 Jesus says: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
I was very young when I was sent to college so they sent me to a church school. They had daily chapel which had required attendance. They had long prayers before the speaker spoke. I hated these prayers.
After I was born again, I attended various churches. In each church, someone would pray before the message. I hated these prayers. They always seemed to me to be ritual and of no real power nor feeling, just a formality.
To me, all these things make a mockery of prayer.
*****
Matthew 6:7-8 Jesus says: But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask HIM.
*****
Prayer is communicating with God, not with man.
*****