DMV: i have, i assure you, read the scriptures many times quite thoroughly. are you asking me to quote the entire bible?
again, if you have scripture noting where christ advocated for his followers to pray in public, please share them with me. there are numerous places where it's noted that christ prayed alone. over and over, all through the gospels, in matthew, mark, luke and john -- jesus prayed privately. in matthew 6:5-6, he SPECIFICALLY TELLS US to pray in private.
christ references prayer at the temple twice -- in luke 18:10-14 (that's the boastful prayer passage, btw) and in matthew 21:12-13 (recalling isaiah, "My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves") -- but both of these refer to jewish customs of praying at the temple; when christ came, he opened up a "direct access to god" so to speak; they were no longer required to go to temple to pray and make sacrifices.
christ references prayer in public in two other situations, both of which involve the act of BLESSING -- 1) blessing a meal and 2) blessing children, in which an adult or parent (and again, this is jewish ritual) places his hands on the child's head -- so christ had to be with the child to bless him; this is not something he could have done in isolation.
however, with the exception of jews praying at the temple and in blessing someone/something, christ prayed IN PRIVATE. and he told us to do the same.
it's not "just one scripture," matthew 6:56.
here are others:
Matthew 14:23 (went up on the mountain alone to pray)
Matthew 26:36-44 (left his disciples to pray)
Mark 1:35 (went to a solitary place to pray)
Luke 5:16 (goes to lonely places to pray by himself)
Luke 9:19 (prayed alone; disciples in the vicinity)
Luke 22:41-43 (withdrew from disciples "about a stone's throw" to pray alone)
John 16, 17 (talks to disciples, then goes and prays, then rejoins disciples to cross kidron valley)
i'm well aware that it's "the thing to do" today to gather up in groups to pray. and if that's what you do, hey -- more power to you. it's between you and god.
all i'm saying is that throughout the scripture, jesus prayed in private and he distinctly tells us to do the same. that's what i base MY PERSONAL decision upon and why I PERSONALLY pray in private.
what you do or don't do is your personal decision.