Number 9...Number 9...Number 9...Number 9...

"Don't recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen do, who think prayers are answered only by repeating them again and again. Remember, your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!" Matthew 6:7,8



I think I'm probably an incidental product of the Jesus People movement of the 60's and 70's. Getting down to what's real, sloughing off the trappings of traditional worship and rhetoric was huge as I was coming into faith. It looked like this: simple or no buildings for worship, non-structured gatherings, praying your own prayers in your own words, ditching the old hymns and singing "a new song to the Lord." My Bad Christian friend has a great take on this view from the pew on his website.

So today, I'm thinking about "vain repitition." Repeating the same words in prayer. Praying the rosary. Reciting the liturgy.

It's true that it's very easy for many of us to become distracted when our minds are not exercised to find our own words in prayer. And, for many of us, saying rote prayers often provides a sense of justification or fulfilled obligation, whether or not we were spiritually engaged in what we were saying. "48, 49, 50...Wow! That must be a record! Atta girl Pat!"

I'm reading a great book right now titled "The Way of a Pilgrim." Found out about it through the Henri Nouwen book Gin loaned me. It's the journal (yes, a true story) of a Russian wayfarer in the 19th century whose quest is to learn how to "pray without ceasing." He finds a holy man who teaches him the Jesus prayer. He prays thousands of times a day, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me," until one day the prayer becomes part of his breath, his heart beat, his steps. He dreams of the prayer at night, the prayer wakes him up in the morning, and he shares the prayer with those he meets on his way. He takes the prayer into his heart, and the prayer overtakes him.

One of the things I left in my Catholic past was prescripted prayer. Some of those prayers I deeply love. Especially the Act of Contrition. Even the Lord's Prayer is rarely recited in the churches I've been part of over the last 20 years. Rich Mullins, bless him, had the guts and the artistic impetus to sing the Nicene Creed. These are historical prayers that have flowed from the lips of believers in Jesus for hundreds of years, in many cultures, languages, and political climates. There is power and connection in that history that I need to acknowledge and reclaim. If only for humility's sake.

Reciting a prescripted prayer also frees us from the self-consciousness that can sometimes take over when we are doing our best to be eloquent - even when we are alone with God. Of course, we may get caught up in our own dramatic inflection as we recite our prayers, but how is that any worse than fancying ourselves "prayer warriors" when we are supposed to be humbly seeking God? It happens to all of us. Well, okay, it happens to me.

A few months ago, I was praying for someone and felt strongly that I should bless her in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I almost didn't, because the images flashing through my mind was how high-churchy and dramatic it might sound if I said it. But, I did. And I realized afterward how self-focused I'd become that I would actually worry not only what people would think of me, but that I would think that invoking the Holy Trinity to bless her would be thought out of place in a circle of Christians.

What the heck?

So, here I find myself again, full circle, getting down to what's real. And, I'm finding that it isn't necessarily found in my own homespun-eloquent-shot-from-the-hip prayer. In the verses above, Jesus was addressing the heart issue, the focus, the intent, the desired outcome on our part. It wasn't the repetition that was meaningless; it was the disconnect. He showed us how to pray from the heart. There is great value in focused, heartfelt, repetitive overtures of love to God.

"In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures...Day and night they never stop saying: Holy, holy holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Revelation 4:6,8