Performative Prayer:
[Comments to Monroe, NC City Council, 09 April 2024] As clergy, prayer is important to me. Jesus taught us to pray. Jesus modeled prayer. Jesus also talked about performative prayer, prayer wielded as a public promotion of one’s piety. He said that kind of prayer short-circuits prayer’s validity. Rather than directed to God, it is directed only to a human audience. He did not mean all public prayer is performative. He warned us of praying to be seen, praised, applauded. Jesus prayed in private. Jesus prayed when performing miracles. Jesus prayed with and for his disciples. He invited them into his dialogue with the Father. He deemed prayer conversation with God, taking multiple forms in diverse settings. Jesus’ other public prayers were from the cross. Those were communication with God inviting people to bear witness to that communication for their benefit. Before the Sanhedrin, Pilate, and Herod, Jesus does not pray. He never coerces his understanding of God u