Donna, yes, that does sound incredibly terrible! Thank you very much for bringing this to the forefront.

I'm not familiar with UK law, and the difficulty to prosecute cases against someone silently praying.

Perhaps, Fay, you might be able to address that aspect, where I cannot.

Yet, I would think, that here in the US, for the moment at least, that it would be extremely difficult to prosecute that.

Unless someone confesses to silently praying, the prosecution would be hard pressed to prove silent prayer.

However, if the defendant possibly would have been moving their lips, like Hannah, then they might be able to convince a jury:

I Samuel 1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

  12 And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

  13a Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard:

Whereas true silent prayer is known only by the the LORD, the one praying, and to whomsoever they then tell it to:

Genesis 24:42 And I came this day unto the well, and said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:

  43 Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;

  44 And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master’s son.

  45 And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.

So, unless the defendant admits to silent prayer, how can the prosecution prove that there had been silent prayer going on?

Will the prosecution presume to be in the place of God, to know that a silent prayer had been in the heart of the defendant?

I Kings 8:39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

Psalms 44:21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

Also, what constitutes silent prayer? Actual words said, by the mind, in the heart? And must those words be directed to God, to be considered prayer?

And must that God, to whom the words are directed, be the LORD God of the Bible, for this to have gone to trial in the first place?

That is a formidable task for the prosecution to prove silent prayer!

Is it possible, that the actual silent prayer, which they really want to put a stop to, is the following:

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

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