Repetative prayers

[esoteric08]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers? other religions are questioning us why we keep on praying our father… hail mary? what are the basis of this? Is there any biblical passage that will support this repeatative prayer? I need help on this…

 

[Pixie_Dust]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers? other religions are questioning us why we keep on praying our father… hail mary? what are the basis of this? Is there any biblical passage that will support this repeatative prayer? I need help on this…

This article should help you.

 

[Ignatius]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers?

Why did Jesus pray “Father let this cup pass from me” no less than 6 times if we count all four Gospels. He told the story of the persistent widow point out the efficacy of repetitive prayer. Our Lord both does it and advocates it. So, the question must be, Since Jesus favors it, Why do you object?

 

[TheDoctor]

“It’s not the repetition that’s the problem, though, but the superstitious attitude which can accompany it. Repetition as such isn’t condemned in the Bible. In Revelation 4:8, for example, the four living creatures repeat, night and day, the prayer “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.” You can’t get more repetitive than that” (see catholic.com/thisrock/1990/9010qq.asp)

Some pagan religions have repetitive prayers where the belief is that the mere saying of the correct words in the correct order the correct number of times will cause gods to act a certain way.

We believe that God grants us his grace, not the prayers themselves, but in answer to our prayer.

Ever seen a little kid ask Mom and Dad for candy in a store? How many times? 10, 50, 100? Does the asking make the candy magically fly off the shelf or is it Mom and Dad responding to their child’s request? Same with us and prayer.

 

[Prayer_Warrior]

Christ did not condemn repetitive prayer. He Himself prayed repetitively in the Garden. The Psalms, which we’re often told are a model of pray for us, are often repetitive. Take a look at Ps 136, “His love endures forever” is said over and over again. Additionally, in one of the most powerful scenes in the Bible, we see in the heavenly liturgy presented in Revelation, the angels praying day and night saying “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty”. Hmmm, “holy, holy, holy” sounds familiar; oh yeah, Catholics join the angels in our earthly liturgy by saying the same words. If God condemned repetitive prayer, believe me, the angels would not be doing it in heaven!

Jesus warned against “vainly” repetitious prayers as the pagans prayed. Those who condemn the Church for repetitive prayers rarely pay attention to this part of the verse. There were pagans at the time that literally thought that the more words they used to pray, the more their gods would hear them. They would babble on with words upon words, but their words were not prayerful. Their words were not from the heart and they were not meditative–the pagans were going for quantity not quality. As usual, a knowledge of history is greatly helpful in discerning what the scripture passage means.

PS. The Hail Mary is scriptural with an added petition asking her to pray for us. "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee (Luke 1:28). Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus (Luke 1:42) Then the petition “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death”

 

[jimmy]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers? other religions are questioning us why we keep on praying our father… hail mary? what are the basis of this? Is there any biblical passage that will support this repeatative prayer? I need help on this…

Jesus prayed the same thing three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. Check Luke 22. It sounds to me like Jesus prayed repetitively.

 

[Ilroy]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers? other religions are questioning us why we keep on praying our father… hail mary? what are the basis of this? Is there any biblical passage that will support this repeatative prayer? I need help on this…

Well, since Christ Himself told us how to pray by saying “Our Father…” then it seems to be just fine to me. As for Hail Mary, that is simply praying the gospel…look in Luke and you’ll find the text for that prayer.

 

[promethius95945]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers? other religions are questioning us why we keep on praying our father… hail mary? what are the basis of this? Is there any biblical passage that will support this repeatative prayer? I need help on this…

What gives other religions the right to question us about repetitive prayer? Perhaps you should point out that VALID translations state “do not BABBLE like the pagans” (and not what protestants have sometime erroneously translated to “do not use vain repetitions like the pagans”). There is absolutely NO verse in the Bible which actually condemns repetitive prayer, as long as that repetition doesn’t lead to babbling.

Conversely, forced to attend a bible study as a teenager, i amused myself by counting each time the youth “minister” said the words Lord, God, Savior, or Christ in his opening prayer. In one prayer, which lasted no more than 3 minutes, he said those four words a grand total of 156 times… talk about babbling and vain prayer! No, the formed prayer of catholics COMBINED with our ability to make direct and sensible prayers is MUCH more preferred over rambling on for the sake of originality each time.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

1* And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; 3 and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” 6* And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7* And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:1-8 How much variation was there in the widow’s petition? Jesus seems to be more concerned with lack of prayer than with repetition.

 

[Gamera]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers? other religions are questioning us why we keep on praying our father… hail mary? what are the basis of this? Is there any biblical passage that will support this repeatative prayer? I need help on this…

Psalm 136 repeats the prayer “his mercy endures forever” 26 times. 26 times! Talk about a repetitive prayer.

All that Jesus forbade was vain repetition.

 

[Philthy]

Why us catholic have repeatative prayers? other religions are questioning us why we keep on praying our father… hail mary? what are the basis of this? Is there any biblical passage that will support this repeatative prayer? I need help on this…

Repetative prayers free you from thinking and free your mind from wandering. They can be a form of meditation to allow your spirit the freedom to listen to God. They have been tested and found worthy by the Saints. That alone is a good enough reason.
Repetative prayers are only one form of prayer within the Church.
If you wanted a biblical passage to support repetative prayer, it would be where the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Matt 6 and other Gospels as well) and he tells them to pray “like this” or to “say this” and he gives them the “Our Father”. He does not say that you should first give glory to God, then confess your sins, then give thanksgiving, and then make requests - he simply unloads the “Our Father”. Now there is nothing wrong with other forms of prayer, but strictly speaking Christ says to say the Our Father.
Now, if you combine that with Paul’s admonition to “pray always” or unceasingly, you quickly realize that you will either be saying a very slow Our Father, or saying it more than once.

 

[tm30]

NRSV:

"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. "

Dhouay Rheims:

“And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard.”

So, evanglicals like to use this verse as a weapon against the rosary, repetitive prayer, etc.

Looking just at this verse, it’s easy to come to that conclusion.
Except, there is a BEFORE and an AFTER to this verse.

BEFORE - Jesus is warning His disciples not to emulate the Pharisees. You know - the ones that stand on the corner that everyone may see they are praying - and not just praying, but praying out loud and in repetition…VAINLY… since God already knows what lies in their hearts.

So why does Jesus then refer to “Gentiles” or “Heathens”?

There are two possibilites:

1. He’s actually referring to Gentiles or heathens.
2. He’s subtly insulting the Pharisees by referring to them as “Gentiles” or “heathens”, because they pray vainly like heathens, and not with the earnestness expected of Jews. In Revelation, Jesus refers a number of times to “self-styled Jews” or “fraudulant Jews”, which is another jab at the Pharisees and zealots. So there is a possibility that what seems like a dig at paganism is really a dig at the Pharisees, given that they are the focus of His admonitions on prayer.

AFTER:

What does Jesus do? He teaches perhaps the most repeated prayer in history, the “Our Father”. So, evangelicals believe that Jesus generically condemend repetitive prayer, and then immediately taught the most repetitive prayer known to man??

 

[love4mary]

Along the lines of the Our Father being the most perfect form of repetative prayer,I once had a baptist missionary come to my door and in the course of our conversation, repetative prayer came up. I asked him about the Our Father (Lords Prayer) and that we prayed this at Every Mass and did his church do the same. His answer confused me…he said Jesus gave that prayer as an example of how to pray and that it was NOT a commandment TO pray it. I don’t know about anyone else, but if my Lord gives me something to say or do,you can bet I WILL do it.

 

[tm30]

His answer confused me…he said Jesus gave that prayer as an example of how to pray and that it was NOT a commandment TO pray it.

oooooookay.

 

[Gamera]

Along the lines of the Our Father being the most perfect form of repetative prayer,I once had a baptist missionary come to my door and in the course of our conversation, repetative prayer came up. I asked him about the Our Father (Lords Prayer) and that we prayed this at Every Mass and did his church do the same. His answer confused me…he said Jesus gave that prayer as an example of how to pray and that it was NOT a commandment TO pray it. I don’t know about anyone else, but if my Lord gives me something to say or do,you can bet I WILL do it.

Yeah, their reasoning is that Jesus was merely demonstrating spontaneous prayer, not giving us specific words to recite. Apparently they believe that if you aren’t making up the words as you go along, then it isn’t “from your heart.” I like to counter with the example of wedding vows. I recited my wedding vows from memory, I didn’t make them up on the spot, but I still meant every word from the heart. Memorization helped me to say just the right thing.

 

[inthecloud]

What gives other religions the right to question us about repetitive prayer? Perhaps you should point out that VALID translations state “do not BABBLE like the pagans” (and not what protestants have sometime erroneously translated to “do not use vain repetitions like the pagans”). There is absolutely NO verse in the Bible which actually condemns repetitive prayer, as long as that repetition doesn’t lead to babbling.

That is the point any questions about repetitive prayers should adress first. THERE IS NO PROHIBITION AGAINST REPETITIVE PRAYERS IN THE BIBLE!

That comes from a mistranslation on some English languaje Bibles of the Greek word BATALOGEO, meaning ranting or babbling speech.