Are Repeated Prayers Wrong?

By Trisha Bleau Smith

There have been many debates and discussions on whether we should use repeated prayers or not. One of the most current discussions has been on the Prayer of Jabez and whether or not people should be praying the prayer. There is also criticism on the Catholic Church’s prayers as well since many are repetitive and already formatted instead of spoken directly from the heart.

So what IS a repeated prayer? What I refer to when I use the term repeated prayer is a prayer that has already been written out or prayed by another person from which we copy and repeat. In essence we take their prayer and pray it as our own instead of making our own prayers to pray.

Critics say this is wrong and cite the passage n the Gospels where it speaks of putting aside vain repetitions. At that time, just as there are now, there were many showy people who “performed” every chance they got. Their prayers were vain repetitions, not heartfelt prayers to the Lord. And that is what we are advised against.

Does that mean we cannot use prayers that are already written? Are we unable to pray the same words that someone else has already prayed?

By far, no! If you take those prayers and you make them your own then it becomes personal, from your heart. As long as you keep HIM the focus and mean what you say then there is nothing wrong with using someone else’s prayer. It is when you repeat things in vain, when you don’t mean it or speak it from your heart, that it becomes worthless.

Keep in mind this point. It is what comes from the heart that truly matters.