Daily devotion – a prayer worth repeating
Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Some people miss read what Jesus is saying here when He says don’t use vain repetition. Some have taught that when we pray about something we should not repeat this prayer otherwise we are lacking in faith. That is NOT what the Bible teaches.
The fact that a request is repeated does not make it a “babbling on”, for both Jesus and the Apostle Paul repeated their petitions – Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and Paul about his thorn in the flesh.
But a prayer becomes ‘babbling’ when it is only words we are speaking without any sincerity in our hearts to seek and do God’s will.
The mere reciting of memorized prayer can be babble. The Gentiles at the time Jesus was teaching this had such prayers in their pagan services.
It is good to check our heart when we are praying. Are we just going through the motion without any emotion?
In the Church where Helen and I were saved, when men were asked to serve communion two were always selected to pray over the bread and the cup accordingly.
I remember one man being asked to pray and he was so nervous about saying the wrong thing in his prayer. He tried to avoid it but he was unable to refrain from the request at the time.
I remember when it came time for him to pray, he took a moment and then prayed simply and beautifully from his heart. It was a wonderful prayer because it came from this man’s heart. The prayer was not long, nor was it filled with eloquent words. But it was a prayer that helped us all to give thanks and remember what Christ had done for each of us.
Make your prayers always from the heart. Ask and ask again about something you are seeking God about. But let the repetition be backed by a hearts desire to see God’s will done!