Bible Synapse

Should Christians pray in public, or only in private?

Hard question · The life of Jesus · raised by 3 of the lists sceptics circulate

Read in context
See the passages joined in the interactive map

The passages

Matthew 6:5–6

Do not pray like the hypocrites, who pray in synagogues and on street corners “that they may be seen of men”; pray to the Father in secret.

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. 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.

1 Kings 8:22

Solomon stands before the altar “in the presence of all the congregation of Israel” and spreads out his hands.

And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

1 Kings 9:3

God answers Solomon: “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication”.

And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

John 11:41–42

At Lazarus’s tomb Jesus prays aloud, saying, “because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe”.

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

1 Timothy 2:8

“I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

The objection

Jesus tells his followers not to pray in the synagogues and on street corners like the hypocrites, but to go into their room, shut the door and pray in secret. Yet Solomon prayed at the altar before the whole assembly of Israel, and God said he had heard that prayer. Jesus himself prayed aloud before a crowd at Lazarus’s tomb, and Paul wants men to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands. Should Christians pray in public or not?

The answer

Jesus forbids praying in order to be seen, not praying where others can see. The fault of the hypocrites is stated in the verse itself: they pray as they do “that they may be seen of men” (Matthew 6:5). The whole passage follows one pattern. Giving, prayer and fasting are not to be done “before men, to be seen of them” (6:1), for then the praise of others is the only reward. Praying where only God sees guards against that motive. The same sermon tells the disciples to let their light shine “before men” (5:16), so being seen is not the problem; seeking to be seen is. Barnes points out that Jesus can hardly have been forbidding prayer in the synagogues.

Nor did Jesus forbid praying together. The prayer he gives a few verses later is a shared prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven” (6:9), and he promised to be present where two or three gather in his name (18:19–20). At Lazarus’s tomb he prayed aloud for a reason he gives: not for his own glory, but “because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 11:42). The first disciples prayed together from the start (Acts 1:14; 4:24). Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple was not a show of personal piety either: the king stood “in the presence of all the congregation of Israel” (1 Kings 8:22) to lead the nation’s worship, and God answered, “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication” (9:3). Paul’s call for men to pray “every where” (1 Timothy 2:8) comes with conditions that match Jesus’ teaching: holy hands, “without wrath and doubting”. So Christians may pray in public, provided they are speaking to God and not performing for others, and they should also pray in secret.

From the classic commentators

Our Lord does not mean to exclude and condemn public prayer, in joining with few, or more persons, in such service; for he himself directs to it, and approves of it, Matthew 18:19 but his view is to instruct persons that they should not only pray in public, but in private alsoJohn Gill, Exposition of the Bible, on Matthew 6:6 (1746–1763)
Of course, it is not the simple publicity of prayer which is here condemned. It may be offered in any circumstances, however open, if not prompted by the spirit of ostentation, but dictated by the great ends of prayer itself.Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary, on Matthew 6:6 (1871)

Sources

Further reading

Raised by: W. H. Burr, Self-Contradictions of the Bible (1860), EvilBible.com, The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible. Only the verse references come from these lists.

Checked 2026-10-22. All hard questions