Vain Repetitions

 April 24, 2023

I have a confession to make. It’s something I’m not proud of, but this really happened.

In our men’s Bible study tonight, we tackled Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Before when I’ve read it, I would take it one little section at a time, but we’re doing a New Testament survey, which means dealing with large chunks of Scriptural real estate at a time. What I noticed tonight is how much prayer ties the sermon together. It is implied in chapter five,  modeled in chapter six, and worked out in chapter seven. One of the topics we considered this evening was the matter of what Jesus called “vain repetitions.”

So here’s the confession: After coming to Christ in my early teen years, our entire family got quite involved in our church. Sunday mornings was worship and Sunday School, Sunday evenings was youth group and Sunday evening services. Monday was work night, Tuesday was Christian Service Brigade, Wednesday were prayer meetings, Saturday night was Youth for Christ. You could say we were busy for the Lord, but at least on my part, it wasn’t always what it seemed. Take Wednesday prayer meetings, for example.

Prayer meetings were only about an hour long. Pastor Ellis would give a short sermon before we launched into prayer. Everyone who wanted to, participated. We sat in the sanctuary, and if you wanted to pray, you stood and did so. Some prayed long and eloquently, some merely long. There were always a few of us teenagers in attendance. Maybe you can see where this is going.

My story isn’t as bad as my friend Ralph. He and his brother were sitting in the back row at their prayer service, right behind a rather large woman who unfortunately let out a rather odoriferous and eye-watering plume that drifted their way. They did their best, but were unable to stifle their laughter. Their father, the pastor, noticed their amusement as the pew they were sitting on shook with their mirth. He demanded they stand and tell everyone there what was so funny. To their credit, they refused, wisely choosing to face his wrath privately than to expose the source of their chuckles.

As I said, my story isn’t quite so dramatic. It’s simply that my friends and I had prayer contests to see who could get the most “amens” out of the listeners. To this day, I can’t remember who won, but I suspect those prayers were among those Jesus called “vain repetitions.” Any prayer that has as its object anything except the glory of God and worship of Jesus is no more than empty words, in short, a vain repetition. How others respond to my prayers is no measure of its effectiveness. The only thing that matters is how God responds, and that depends on the state of my heart.

These days, I prefer silence to vain repetitions. I’ve prayed many a prayer without words that God has heard, and too many filled with words that in fact, weren’t directed to him, but to others. With the Lord’s help, those days and prayers are gone for good.