It is a contradiction in desires, in that Paul wills people to pray everywhere and Jesus says Go in the closet to pray. It really seems like a stretch to make "pray in secret" to "pray everywhere" equivalent to "don't eat like a pig" and "I wish they would use utensils." I think your suggestion is that Jesus meant don't pray insincerely, rather than privately, hence no contradiction.

But of course, Jesus simply could have said, 'Don't pray insincerely'! Instead, he specifically mentions to *pray in secret*; while this could imply sincerity, it doesn't exclude secrecy, unless you argue that "in secret" is some ancient tongue's figurative expression about insincerity.

Therefore Paul wish is contradicting Jesus' wish. You can say this is not a contradiction, but Paul disagrees with Jesus, and I would buy that.

Thanks for the reply,

Whatchoo

PS I guess in my opinion, if Jesus thought people were all sinners, he would assume that no one could pray publicly without having some ulterior wish, perhaps sub-consiously, therefore telling people to always pray secretly.