[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] Amazing facts devotion

[Shelly Duffy]

WHERE IS THE LINE BETWEEN PERSISTING IN PRAYER AND VAIN REPETITION?
April 08, 2021 

Average reading time is about 5 minutes


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Prayer is not for informing God; rather, it draws us up to God. The Lord wants us to pray to Him for our benefit, and not because He wouldn’t know what’s going on if we didn’t pray. It binds us to God. He knows what you need even before you ask, so the Lord lays certain burdens on our heart, and as long as those burdens are there, we should keep praying for them. 

The heathen would utter the same prayer several times in one sitting. That’s not prayer. Prayer is the intelligent cry of your heart to the heart of God. Prayer elevates you. When you pray, you should think about the prayer and what you’re saying really means. 

The Greek word for “vain repetitions” is only found in this one place in the New Testament. It means “to babble” and to “rattle off without giving much thought to what is being said.” Is this how Jesus wants us to pray? What follows in verses 9–13 is a simple example of how we might pray. But it’s not intended to be a magic formula that will do wonders if we vainly repeat it. 

There are some Christian denominations that tell people that when they sin, they should say a certain prayer over and over again in order to right the wrong they did. That’s not biblical. 

Then you’ve got people like Elijah who knelt down and, seven times, asked God to send the rain. I don’t think he prayed the exact same prayer seven times. Rather, seven different times he pled with the Lord to fulfill His Word and send the rain. People who have children wandering from God pray for their salvation every day. That’s not praying in vain repetition. You can be sure that Jesus prayed for the disciples every day (John 17). 



KEY BIBLE TEXTS 
"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
"Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
Matthew 6:7-8





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Shelley Duffy