A Little Bible Q & A For Your Day

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Date: May 20 2016 1:30 PM

Hey Everybody. I hope you are all doing well. The rain we have received here has certainly been nice. Here is a little Q & A for your Friday.

The Question:

Dear Brother: I notice a few brethren, in leading a congregational prayer, use the expression, “I pray,” Instead of “we pray.” Isn't this wrong? Surely, if nothing else, it is grammatical error.

The Answer:

Many people pick up expressions from others they hear pray, then use those expressions when they lead prayer. This is not necessarily bad, but we should really give thought to what we say before we say it. I don't believe using "I" instead of "we" is necessarily wrong, but it can make the worshipers uncomfortable.

There have been men, leading prayer in the worship assembly, say, “Father, I pray that you will forgive me my sins, so that this prayer will come up unhindered before Your throne.” This is bothersome. First, the man is not just praying to God on his own behalf; he is praying on behalf of all the assembled believers. If his sins would hinder the prayer being heard, so would the sins of all the rest of those assembled hinder the same prayer for them. After all, it is their prayer, too! Why not simply pray for all to be forgiven? Second, this is not just his prayer, but that of all the people assembled (at least, it should be). That being true, "we" IS grammatically correct.

If one wants to pray for his personal needs, the admonition of the Lord to "go into your room" and pray in secret (Matt. 6:6) would surely apply. In the assembly, one is called on to LEAD a prayer, and that means all of those in the assembly make it their prayer as they join in with the thoughts and purposes of the prayer (1 Cor. 14:16). Those who are asked to lead public prayers should consider carefully the purpose of the assembly and the needs of those in the assembly. The prayer in the assembly, then, should be worded in such a way as to include all those in the assembly, so that they can say "Amen" at the conclusion of the prayer and make it their prayer.

I hope this helps.

Have a great weekend!

Mitch Robison

Enon Church of Christ

1366 Enon Road

Webb, AL 36376

[email protected]

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