Deacons who don't/won't pray in public

I am not so much concerned with whether a deacon prays in public or not.

I am concerned that they pray in private and have a servants heart.

 

Why not? Does the Bible tell us that a deacon must be "apt to pray before the assembly"?

 

I'd have no problems with such a deacon, as long as they meet the biblical requirements of the office and serve the church appropriately.


Regards
Bob

 

I can't resist telling this true story.

My pastor at the time normally made sure by asking a man in advance if he prayed publicly.

This time, he forgot, and called on a man to pray without checking first. There was this long silence, then the man said:

"Preacher, you got the wrong guy."

I don't remember what the man he finally called on said in his closing prayer, for most of us were holding our sides.

 

The important thing is that he searves the Lord to the best of his ability, not weather or not he prays in public. I would assume that before he was chosen as a Deacon he didn't pray in public so why should it be a suprise when he dosen't do it now.


Bill

 

I also don't think it's of vital importance if he prays or not in public, as long as it doesn't become an issue for the rest of the church body.

But would it matter what his reasons for not doing it are?
It could be because he's not wanting to stumble and bumble in front of the rest of the church, which would be pride, which a deacon would have to be encouraged not to have, right?

[I'm admittedly probably talking more "perfect world" scenario, and not what really plays itself out in our churches and people.]raying:

 

Not sure about that. I wouldn't consider that pride. If he doesn't feel comfortable speaking in public it probably has more to do with feeling inferior in that area. Not wanting to be feel embarrassed doesn't mean you are prideful. Some people just don't like to be in front of a large crowd.

Also, someone might think that the service will go more smoothly without him saying ...uh...um.....uh...um.

 

"Lord, teach me to pray." Perhaps this chap had never been taught to pray. Ever notice how lay people in the church use the same prayer language that the elder folk use? They learned to pray by listening to others.

Perhaps the pastor could spend some personal time "teaching this deacon to pray in public in small doses. It took me awhile to learn how to preach in public. I did great in front of a mirror, but almost crushed the lecturn when I preached from grasping it..took time and practice.

I suggest he write a few prayers and read them.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Where in Scripture does it command us to pray out loud? While there is nothing wrong with it, I see nowhere that it is required of a believer. Prayer is a very private thing. Jesus said we are to go into our room and pray in secret.

I've seen what appears to be pride in people while they were praying out loud. Public prayer is for those listening, not neccessarily for God.

A person should be judged by their fruits, not whether or not they pray out loud.

 

Prayer is public just as they stood in the temple and prayed....all in attendance heard......except when the priest went into the holy of holies behind a curtain.

Public prayer is an integral part of worship. If I was intended to address the congregation in my public prayers, then I missed the boat for many, many years.........oops! my bad!

I do agree that far too many preachers preached as they prayed giving the impression they were actually addressing the congregation.

Cheers,

Jim

 

The spirit is willing...but the flesh is weak. Fear of public speaking has nothing to do with spirituality. I have this fear, and my throat gets all tight when I have to speak in public.

Having a fear is not protecting anything.

...then why is there a problem if this guy prays in public or not?

 

Just maybe the person who is shy about public addresses wants to be the best he can be before the Lord, and his inadequacies affect this. I still say teaching is the answer. Just as we learn to preach, we must learn to pray. A baby crawls long before it walks, and screams long before it speaks.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Sorry, I can't resist telling another story. A faithul man trembled at the thought of praying in public. He told his pastor, "I'll do anything you ask me to do, except please don't call on me to pray. I get terrified at the thought."

The pastor stewed over it and went to Brother John. "John, we need to deal with this fear, and I have an idea. I've written a brief prayer. You take it, stick it in your hatband. I'll call on you to pray, you take the written prayer out of the hatband and read it. Nobody will see you since heads will be bowed and eyes will be closed." Bro. John reluctantly agreed to give it a shot.

Sunday morning. Choir comes in, sings a call to worship. The congregation sings Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow. The pastor steps to the pulpit, heads bow, eyes close.

"Brother John, will you lead us in prayer?"

Silence for a moment, then Brother John said:

"Dear Heavenly Father...................................................this ain't my hat."

 

Fear of public speaking can't have anything to do with physicality, unless there's some physical problem with talking, which doesn't seem the case here. So it must have 'something to do with spirituality.'

Actually for a Christian, everything has 'something to do with spirituality.' :tonofbricks:

Why are you afraid of public speaking?
For me, I would have said I was afraid of public speaking a couple years ago, actually I did, but it was all just an excuse. After I thought it out, rationally, what I was really afraid of was messing up. I wasn't afraid of messing up in God's eyes, but it was ingrained in me that I shouldn't do things unless they can be done near-to-human-perfect, because "people see."
In hindsight, that was a grossly wrong avenue to be approaching worship from.
Could the same thing have happened to this guy? It's probably how millions of people come to "fear" public speaking. They don't fear "speaking" they fear "public."
I still get dry-mouthed and forget "the plan" when I do speak in public, so I can see where people would not want to do it, but if it's done for God, I can't see why someone would say "no" to the idea. :BangHead:

In order for someone to have a fear of something, something else has to be being threatened.
It's unlikely that their health or wellbeing will be threatened by public speaking, so it must be something else.
Rationally, if you fear something, there has to be something you're trying to protect. Even if you don't know 'why' you're 'fearing' something. Nobody fears things that do not threaten them in some way.
If you fear the Boogeyman, it's because you're trying to protect yourself from whatever he might do to you. If you fear bridges, it is because you don't want to fall off one.
Having a fear is wanting to protect something, somewhere along the line. It can be external sometimes but a lot of times it's just internal.

I don't have a "problem." I'm just saying "Overcome through Christ." Like a couple others said, this is a great chance to teach this dude something, and millions of other Christians with similar 'fears.'
He can do whatever he wants to do, but it's more important to do what God wants him to do.
I don't think God wants him to fear praying in public. Probably hundreds of thousands of people do it every weekend, with the instances of actual harm quite rare. :godisgood:
God also doesn't want him to be trying to impress people with his prayers, which is another story altogether....raying:

 

ichthys,

I think you ought to quit playing psychologist

 

Do you have a better method than the one I've gone through for determining whether or not a deacon's not praying in public should be encouraged or discouraged? :wavey:

I'm guessing you didn't disagree with any of the points, since you didn't mention any of them? raying:

 

I'm sorry...are you a psychologist? If so, then you would know that thoughts are bred in the mind, and the mind is physical, so yes, thoughts are physical in nature, as well as spiritual. The brain is wired electrically, and any misfire can result in mood alterations, depression, thoughts, etc. It is physical in nature, that's why there is medication to help with the problem.

Really? So my love for the Browns, and disdain for the Steelers is spiritual, and the fact I would rather eat a cheeseburger over brussel sprouts isspiritual? Weird...

What manual is this from? What about peole with anxiety attacks? The brains sends a false "fight of flight" signal in perfectly normal circumstances, where they are not threatened in the least.

This is the same thing that is told to many people suffering from chemical imbalances in their brains. Many commit suicide because instead of receiving the proper medical treatment they should, they try to "overcome through Christ". I find it odd that this same line of thinking isn't taught to those in emergency rooms with internal bleeding, strokes, broken bones and amputated limbs. God gave us physicians for a reason, with one of His disciples being one.

 

I would like scriptural proof that public praying is required and that the failure of doing it means one has to 'overcome' a problem.