Some of you know I work at a Christian school. Many of you know, too, that I consider myself a Christian, if a... unique... one. I realize this could be in the Christian forum, but, as always, I wanted a wide variety of opinions, so I'm asking here.

Here's the deal: my school has a Tuesday morning prayer meeting for faculty that is currently voluntary. I heard yesterday that it will become mandatory soon. My question is this: if one feels prayer should be personal between one and God, why should one be forced to pray in front of others? Is there a Biblical mandate? (Fellowship is out, by the way, as I fellowship with my coworkers on a daily basis and go to chapel every week with the rest of the school body.)

I'm really very unhappy about this. I feel the administration is treading on sacred, personal ground for me. I don't pray in front of people, especially out loud. I pray FOR people, but not with them. I've been through WAY too many prayer meetings that are all a show (who's a better prayer/speaker/Christian here?) and will have none of it anymore.

When I pray, it's to God. Asking me to pray in a meeting is like asking to put my most personal thoughts, feelings and business on loudspeaker.

What do you think? What should I do?

You are right, when you pray that is very personal. I wouldnt want to share mine with others in a group as well. I would express the concern with a higher up and hope that your point is seen.
I wish you the best of luck with this.

I feel that talking to whatever God you have is a very personal thing. In my opinion Prayer Meetings are really just for show.
I do not know whether you have an option to refuse it though.

Growing up in Private Catholic schools, prayer and masses were mandatory, even as a 6 yr old girl I found that arbitrary and dictating. I am also a Christian, but prayer should not be something we are forced to do, but something we want to do. Even Christian schools should realize this.

My humble opinion

Are you to be required to pray out loud with the group? Or can you just sit in the room? Is is offensive to you to have others pray out loud around you?

Well, it should be private if that is what the individual wants. However, and here is the caveat, you work for a private, Christian school. Essentially, they can pretty much make it mandatory and there's really nothing you can do about it, except go or quit.

You can, however, learn the art of taking a nap while appearing to be paying attention. It's tough, but doable

God says to pray without ceasing. Jesus also told the disciples to pray & not fall asleep. Praying alone or praying corporately is something that is very important.

It's ALL important & it is scriptural. There are more nuances to prayer than most people think. Why confine it by some human standard?

I personally don't believe in 'organized religion', especially when the organization starts telling people how to interact with God or what how they must behave.



Well, that seems like an odd question to me. The reason being that you seem to have already chosen to be part of an 'organized religion' yet now you are bucking against its 'organization'.

Sorry, but that just seems pretty hilarious to me.

My first instinct is to just tell you to voice your opinions and tell them how you feel about it.

However, my truest instinct is to tell you get away from organized religion altogether.

This is the very problem with organized religion.

The protestants protested against the Pope-centered Catholicism. But they never stopped protesting. They just continue to protest against their very own Protestant organizations.

The bottom line, IMHO, is that spirituality was never meant to become an organized social or political thing.

I absolutely loath Christianity.

Yes, I hate it. Just like I hate cancer. It's cancer of the spirit as far as I'm concerned.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. Christianity has become the Anti-Christ as far as I'm concerned. It's a total disgrace of everything that Jesus ever stood for.

When someone tells me that they are a Christian all they are really telling me is that they don't believe in Jesus and they have absolutely no clue what his message was all about.

They think he died for their sins. But that's a gross misunderstanding and truly has nothing at all to do with what the man actually taught.

So my advice to you is to run as far and as fast as you can to escape any organized religion that claims to be focused on Jesus. All that religion is going to do is corrupt the minds of decent well-meaning people.

I personally would have no parts of it.

But that's just me.

I say screw it,just fake it and pretend like your praying, in order to keep your job. The jokes on them.You'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

When Im in those kinds of situations, I just pretend like I give a **** so I can get what I want.

What an unscrupulous monkey!

nice picture

I just wanna point out to anyone reading this thread that I am only referring to MANDATORY prayer and other MANDATORY religious observances.




I consider them to be profane.

I do not believe in religion (all of them)so my answer might be taken in every which way you want.

God is everywhere and sees and hear everything so why do religion make it that you have to be in a special house or building with groups yelling it singing it or whatever way you do it. You just have to talk to God in your head and he hears you i could be sitting on the can doing my business and God would not be offended, he knows who I am, how my heart is, if I'm good or bad and he knows all that even if I never pray to him he sees all hears all and knows all so why do i need to do it in a group in church or in school.

This all the religious way of controlling, knowing, putting ideas in your head by scaring you putting guilt in you and forcing you to do as they say. God and religion are two different thing for me one is all that is good and the other is everything but good.

My humble opinion