Originally posted by tragic_pizza:
Is repeating the Lord's Prayer "vain repetition?"
Absolutely.
When I go to the mission field where people are saved out of various denominational backgrounds I must teach them to rid themselves of this habit. For most it is said from the mind and not the heart. They repeat memorized words without thinking about them.
But worse yet, in a large gathering there is always bound to be unsaved among them. The father of the unsaved is the devil (John 8:44). One only enters into the family of God through the new birth (John 1:12). The "Our Father" prayed by an unsaved person is actually a prayer to Satan and not to God. It is entirely inappropriat in any public meeting.
It was never meant as a prayer to be repeated. That is not what Jesus said.
His disciples came to him and asked him: "Lord teach us to pray."
Jesus said: "Pray
after this manner.
He did not say: Pray this prayer.
It was a model of a prayer. He was teaching the principles of prayer. We are not commanded to pray that prayer. It is vain repetion to pray that prayer. Take the principles taught in that prayer and then pray from your heart. Never are we taught to pray "The Lord's Prayer." It is wrong for many, many reasons.
Very few, if any, can actually pray for their own lives: "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
How is God's will done in heaven? It is done immediately, without question, without complaint, never disobeying. Can you be like the angels in heaven and do God's will "on earth as in heaven?" Are you serious when you pray "the Lord's prayer?
DHK