And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Matthew 6:7-8

All prayer is not the same! This is evident since Jesus commands His disciples not to pray certain kinds of so-called “prayers.” Why did He say this? Because certain kinds of prayer are illegitimate, and in fact, not prayers at all.

As we pointed out, this is not a prohibition against praying the same (legitimate) prayers repeatedly until they are answered. Rather, is it a prohibition against chanting mindless repetitions. This is why it is dangerous to repeatedly “pray” rote prayers, since in time we are prone to disengage our minds and think we have prayed when we have merely chanted.

This is true, for instance, of Tibetan monks spinning “prayer wheels” imagining that each rotation of the wheel represents another prayer, when it is in fact a meaningless religious ritual. (Click Here to see pictures of such wheels.)

Another example is praying a series of “Our Fathers” (the Lord’s Prayer”), or “Hail Marys” (a passage of scripture that is not a prayer!) to secure forgiveness of sins. To add to the mindlessness of these practices, these so-called prayers are made more mindless by counting a string of “holy beads” while supposedly praying. These practices are blasphemous because they declare that the blood of Christ is not sufficient for forgiveness!

I do not give these examples to put down the people who do engage in such practices—most of them do not know any better. The practices are wrong, but the people who engage in them need the Lord! So pray for them!