Vain repetition??

This is one phrase from the gospel's that I always struggled with. Jesus said this in reference to the religious on the street corner praying for everyone to see...to see just how holy they were. What is vain repetition? Are they the prayers that we say over and over again like the prayers we memorized as kids? I think vain repetition is a matter of conscience that only the prayer needs to discern.

How is our prayer life individually? I think one can say it is vain repetition when you have done all these prayers and you have no idea that you just prayed. Our memorized prayers are vain repetition when they no longer have anything to do with heart-felt worship, but have become boredom and going through the motions because we think it is our duty. When we reflect on the time we just spent in prayer and you realize that all that came to mind was tonight's dinner plans and the upcoming weekend. It is so easy to pray a litany of prayer and realize I did not have but a few thoughts directed towards God.

This week at the kids mass, the reading came up on Jesus' teaching of the Lord's Prayer from Luke's gospel. One thing I mentioned to the kids about the prayer that it was short. We can do the Lord's prayer in 15 seconds. Jesus taught us to pray and this is what he gave us. With the tradition of the Church and the many devotional prayers we have...this is wonderful for reflection us as we meditate on God. For our personal prayer, take the advice Jesus gave us when He said "pray like this." Jesus gave glory and praise to God, Jesus prayed for God's will and not His, He made a petition for a daily need, He petitioned that we forgive like God forgives us...which is a mandate of our Christianity, and Jesus prayed for protection from the evil one. That is a short and marvelous prayer.

One of the greatest thing about making our own perfect prayer, instead of using the same one all the time, is that it forces us to think and be present to God. God wants His child (you) to be present while talking. We ask God to help us make our own perfect prayer many times a day praying like Jesus did and perhaps not always using Jesus' word's, but the words of our own hearts. That is the step to a strong relationship. See you in a couple weeks.