Matthew 6:7 Repeating prayer

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Matthew 6:7 says
“When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”
Is this telling us that we should not repeat prayers over and over again such as the Our Father and Hail Mary?

Thank you!
God Bless!
 
LennyFL said:
Matthew 6:7 says
“When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”
Is this telling us that we should not repeat prayers over and over again such as the Our Father and Hail Mary?
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Some Protestants will use this verse as a proof-text to demonstrate that the rosary is counter-scriptural. However, this doesn’t hold up. The Jews of the day (and in fact, to the present day!) pray the Sh’ma daily (see Deut 6:4). In fact, Scripture instructs exactly this process: “Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deut 6:7).

So, if what Jesus meant was “don’t repeat prayers”, then he would have really riled up every observant Jew of his day! Since he didn’t, it stands to reason that this wasn’t his meaning. (Instead, what he meant was that we shouldn’t babble like the pagans – who used long litanies of potential names for their gods, hoping that (if they found the right name for their god and said it) they’d have power over their god and could force him to do what they wanted him to do. This is what Jesus is telling us not to do – to use prayer as some sort of magical incantation to gain power over God.)
 
LennyFL said:
Matthew 6:7 says
“When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”
Is this telling us that we should not repeat prayers over and over again such as the Our Father and Hail Mary?

Thank you!
God Bless!
Click to expand...
No…take in in context, explained here:

fisheaters.com/vainrepetitions.html
 
Not if you read the whole thing into CONTEXT!

I used to think they did too, obviously when I hated Catholics but I dont anymore.
 
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
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Hmmm…
 
In addition to other good posts… :o even the Psalms demonstrate prayers of repetition (cf. Psalm 136) or even Jesus repeated prayers:Mark 14:39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.
 
LennyFL said:
Matthew 6:7 says
“When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”
Is this telling us that we should not repeat prayers over and over again such as the Our Father and Hail Mary?

Thank you!
God Bless!
Click to expand...
Mat 26:44 And leaving them, he went again: and he prayed the third time, saying the selfsame word.
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I would not neccessarily exclude the Our Father or Hail Mary. These can be repeated over and over again in an attempt to be heard by “speaking much” just as any other prayer.

I think the point is just that…Dont pray with just empty repeated words. Pray from the heart, meaning what you say. The Lord listens to the heart.

That being said, i dont think written prayers meant to be repeated as often as we are compelled to do so in a sincere spirit are what Jesus was condemning. As my signiture says, “They devoted themselves…to the prayers.” There were, from the beginning, liturgical prayers which held a specific purpose and sustinance in worship.

For

Peace
Michael
 
LennyFL said:
Matthew 6:7 says
“When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”
Is this telling us that we should not repeat prayers over and over again such as the Our Father and Hail Mary?

Thank you!
God Bless!
Click to expand...
It is not the repetition that is objectionable, but the “vain” part.

If repetitive prayers were abhorrent, then why is the Bible filled with examples of repetitive prayer?

To wit:

Praise the LORD, for he is good;
for his mercy endures forever;

Praise the God of gods;
for his mercy endures forever;

Praise the Lord of lords;
for his mercy endures forever;

Who alone has done great wonders,
for his mercy endures forever;

Who skillfully made the heavens,
for his mercy endures forever;

Who spread the earth upon the waters,
for his mercy endures forever;

Who made the great lights,
for his mercy endures forever;
 
LennyFL said:
Matthew 6:7 says
“When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.”
Is this telling us that we should not repeat prayers over and over again such as the Our Father and Hail Mary?

Thank you!
God Bless!
Click to expand...
In addition to the other great remarks:

The words ‘vain repetition’ constitute a mistranslation. The concept ‘vain’ (by any definition of the word) appears nowhere in the original Greek. The word often rendered as vain repetition is ‘battalogeo’, which is used only once in Scripture. It means to stutter or stammer. Also, translations of this passage into other languages besides English generally don’t convey this concept of vain repetition.
 
Great examples from the Psalms, Dueteronomy, and Matthew! Matthew is my favorite example, in which Jesus Christ Himself prays the same exact words over again. Thank you for the answers!
 
There is a big difference between praying a prayer once a day and praying the same prayer over and over again as sort of a mantra. The pagans believed that they will receive extra merit for their many words.

As far as the four living creatures in Revelations they are not praying but declaring Gods holiness. So there is no argument there.
 
Lenny! Put down that JW propaganda. Do it now!

Consider what a true bible says:
Matthew 6:7
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
7 “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
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OK, let’s see what occurs a few verses later, even in the Jehovah’s Witnesses own purpose-built translation:
But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.So, do not make yourselves like them, for God YOUR Father knows what things YOU are needing before ever YOU ask him.
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9“YOU must pray, then, this way:
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“‘Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.10Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.11Give us today our bread for this day;12and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the wicked one.’
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Notice please that Jesus taught only one single prayer in all of scripture. One. Are we supposed to pray it one time and stop praying? Nonsense!

You will see that He condemned the gentiles for VAIN repetitions. VAIN prayers.

There is no confusion amongst those who follow Christian tradition all the way back to the Apostles. There is no confusion amongst the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. None. Among all of the others, there is much confusion.
 
PeaceInChrist said:
So is there a limit one can say a prayer in a certain amount of time?
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What is the purpose in repeating the same prayer over and over again five, ten or twenty times in a row? Is God unable to hear you the first time? What is the reason for doing this? Does it carry more power the more times you repeat it?
 
jericho777 said:
What is the purpose in repeating the same prayer over and over again five, ten or twenty times in a row? Is God unable to hear you the first time? What is the reason for doing this? Does it carry more power the more times you repeat it?
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Ask the Lord Jesus, who addressed the Father at Gethsemane in the same words three times! Did God not hear His own Son?

Do you love someone? Of course.
Have you told them that you love them? Of course.
Only once?

By our unceasing prayer, we are not changing God. We are changing ourselves.
 
po18guy said:
Ask the Lord Jesus, who addressed the Father at Gethsemane in the same words three times! Did God not hear His own Son?

QUOTE]

He was asking the Father a question. He wasn’t repeating a wrote prayer repeatedly to gain an unrelated benefit from the words of the prayer. IE saying ten our Fathers to see if there was another way to bring salvation to us.
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po18guy said:
Do you love someone? Of course.
Have you told them that you love them? Of course.
Only once?

By our unceasing prayer, we are not changing God. We are changing ourselves.
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You are right I just tell them I love them. I don’t say unrelated words to my thought.

Our unceasing prayer is not wrote but specific prayer to the exact needs at hand.
 
jericho777 said:
He was asking the Father a question. He wasn’t repeating a wrote prayer repeatedly to gain an unrelated benefit from the words of the prayer. IE saying ten our Fathers to see if there was another way to bring salvation to us.
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Mat 26:44 And leaving them, he went again: and he prayed the third time, saying the selfsame word.
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Mat 6:7 And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard.
Mat 6:8 Be not you therefore like to them for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him.
Mat 6:9 Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our supersubstantial bread.
Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
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