I will not use vain repetitions in prayer

I will not use vain repetitions in prayer
I will not use vain repetitions in prayer
I will not use vain repetitions in prayer

In today’s Gospel, our Lord warns his disciples

When ye pray,
use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:
for they think that they shall be heard
for their much speaking

Catholics are sometimes accused of doing this: from saying five to ten Our Fathers as a penance to praying the Rosary, repetitions are not uncommon in Catholic prayer.

Yet repetition in prayer is not uncommon for any Christian.

Consider how repetitious so many extemporaneous prayers are. Consider also how many times we pray for the exact same thing: from world peace to healing for a particular illness.

The real problem is not so much the repetition but the intention: the idea that multiplying words will change God’s mind.

We cannot change God in se through our prayer. Rather, it is God who changes us through our prayer and who makes us his instruments of change through our prayer.

Extended and repeated prayer may have many effects on us. Sometimes it is like the old practice of writing repeated sentences in school, drumming important things into our brain. Sometimes it is like exercise, gaining strength by repeating the same action. Sometimes it is just the extra time we spend with our minds and hearts specially directed toward God and his will.

Repetition as a way of changing God is in vain, but the more we pray – even if our prayer seems repetitious – the more God changes us according to his ways.

May God’s will be done.
May God’s will be done.
May God’s will be done.