SugarOcean
¡pɹᴉǝM ʎɐʇS
Matthew 6:5-8 New International Version (NIV)
Prayer
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
You would imagine then that Jesus himself sinned per that instruction. As we recall, Jesus prayed aloud and instructed the masses who attended his sermon from the mountain, how to pray. "Our Father who art in Heaven...."
While preaching to the public out of doors is not the same as praying. If it were considered such then indeed Jesus would have violated his own instruction there in Matthew 6 on both counts. Prayer and preaching.
That verse you cite is actually warning against praying for prideful reasons. While the Christian is in relationship with the source of all that exists and therefore our living is prayer without ceasing.
And when we preach in buildings constructed by mortal hands, where God said he does not dwell, we are gathered together as temples containing that holy spirit and therefore God does dwell within us there. And indeed is everywhere we are and within us.
I have never been led to proselytize door to door, nor preach in the streets. However, those who are led to do so and not by ego, do so out of love. Not hubris. For what escapes those who think to mock us is this. We believe in God and the good news he sent to the world through His Word, as The Word made flesh in Emmanuel ("God with us").
We believe that.
And as such since we gave our life to the faith that tells us what this life means and what awaits after, we seek to tell others about that. And the reason is because God knows for whom the message of Salv-ation shall resonate. And it is those one's whom shall find their way to The Way. Whether we speak aloud on a street in Toronto Canada, or from the pulpit in Ink Ohio.
You see, it isn't us that leads people to Christ in those ways. Rather it is us who calls out to those whom are awaiting to be called . Wherever they may be. Holy spirit dwells within us. Those who minister speak from that place if they are truly of God. While those who are not ministers still teach by example. Even when they falter as human beings displaying temper, or what have you. They are still the living testimony that God heals and saves the human condition.