And as for # 2 it is not do not
pray in public ever, more to the point of do not pray for the sake of just beeing seen as in the next verse «for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking».
So legal excellence
in public perception is a bit like Rushdie's famous discussion of God being dead or alive: God is on life support
in many parts of the world, but boy is God
ever alive
in others, and sometimes you
pray to God «just
in case.»