Battalogew

Matthew 6:7 "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.

In evangelical churches I often heard this verse used as an argument against using form prayers. They taught that the prohibition against "vain repetitions" prohibited the use of any previously written prayer. I always thought this was a little odd since the fact that someone had previously written the prayer would not necessarily mean that the next person praying it was doing so in a meaningless way. I could utter new prayers in a meaningless way or old prayers in a non-meaningless way. Taken to its logical conclusion it would seem that Scripture should be done away with to avoid vain reading and vain hearing. I'm not saying that extemporaneous prayer is bad but neither are form prayers.

What's interesting too is that Jesus doesn't say, "When you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the Pharisees do." He says, "do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do." Judaism had a number of form prayers and Jesus never really spoke against them. Jesus seems to be speaking against pagan babbling. The Greek word being used is battalogew and there are some disagreements as to what it exactly means. The ESV translates the verse as:

Matthew 6:7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

I think this gets a little closer to the actual meaning but it may even be denoting the heathen practice of using nonsensical words during worship or ecstatic speech. It seems like Jesus is either condemning the use of gibberish in prayer (which I think is the most likely) or perhaps he is condemning very long prayers where people try to appear more pious by their length of prayer. The condemnation of form prayers is absurd given the context.

Matthew 6:7-13 "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. 8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

So Jesus after supposedly telling us not to pray form prayers then gives us a form prayer.

Another thing I've often heard is that this is not speaking of corporate but of private prayer and that this is something like what a prayer should look like and not something that should actually be prayed in its exact form.

All the yous in verses 5 and 6 are singular.

Matthew 6:5-6 " And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

But when we get to verse 7 and 8 they are plural and so there appears to be a shift from private to corporate prayer.

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

Then in verse 9 the command to pray is in the plural as well and God is not spoken of as my Father but as our Father.

Matthew 6:9 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven,

The "Y o u" is even supplied in the Greek for emphasis even though it doesn't make its way into many modern English translations. The KJV does have it:

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye:

The contrast is also between a general similarity that the Gentiles do and a specific thing that Christians are called to do. Verse 7 has the word osper which marks some general similarity. We find this word used in the parables.

Matthew 6:7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

In verse 9 we have outos which is often used in a more direct and exact way. We find the word used in passages like the ones below:

Matthew 2:5-6 So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.' "

John 21:1 After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself:

I don't mean to discourage extemporaneous prayer in any way but one of the cool things about saying the "Our Father" is that you are probably never saying it alone. Even if there is nobody in the same room with you there are others praying the same prayer somewhere on the planet.