Comments on: Toward A Remedy For Vain Repetitions

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:46:46 +0000

I hope that i am writing to mormons. It really dosent matter. God Bless you all!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:39:40 +0000

I thank you all for your wounderful comments. I to also find myself saying the same things in prayer. Just a remember to always in your prayers daily to plead with the LORD for the Holy Gohst daily to guide you and lead you in the way back to your Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is very nessesary in our lives. I think what repitition is in prayers is like saying memorized prayers. When you pray to God you should always pray from your heart and not any memorized prayers. When i go somewhere and I think i see someone in need I pray for that person and i pray if there is any way that i can help that person. If there isnt then i pray for him or her and leave them the LORD’S blessings. The main thing is to pray for guidence everyday from the sweet Holy Spirit. Pray and thank Heavenly Father for everything. I dont care if your rich or poor. How did you get rich. By God’s holy blessings. Pray and thank him for your food. Pray and thank him for getting an A on you school paper. Pray and thank him for his beautiful creations. There is alot we can thank him for. Just remember to pray for all for that is what our Saviour Jesus Christ taught us to do. Also pray before scripture study to get greater personal revelation from the Holy Gohst, and pray before studying the words of the living Prophets and Apostles,but always remember to keep silent after your prayers and listen to what God is saying and write doun the impressions you get wheather thoughts or felling. Always pause in your prayers and write doun impressions and thoughts that come to you during prayer. The spirit is always teaching us new things daily, exspessally how we can be better people and be more like Jesus. I’m trying to be like Jesus and ctr (choose the right). Well, that is all the advice I have for now. God bless you all. You can all reach me at mormonpat@yahoo.com Please email me anytime. I will be lookinf forward to your emails!

By: Don

Don — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:13:55 +0000

Sometimes changing how or where I pray helps. Sometimes I’ll prostrate myself flat, sometimes bend over like the pictures of Islam toward Mecca, sometimes I’ll raise both hands in the air, sometimes I’ll literally go into the closet, one of my most memorable prayers was in a very cramped bathroom sitting on the toilet (with the lid down), I try and do about anything to get out of the curse of the normal.

By: MCQ

MCQ — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:39:29 +0000

Teenagers seem to lack the ability to feel much gratitude, but I agree that’s a good idea for prayer, Kim. An hour is about 55 min. longer than I’ve ever been able to pray.

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:26:52 +0000

Awesome idea.

Perhaps another option is to tell him to try saying a prayer of just thank-yous. I did that once, and I ended up praying for an hour.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 03:14:00 +0000

I’ve also given up the formalistic language for my personal prayers, and talk like a conversation. I haven’t had trouble with vain repetition recently, since my life is undergoing some dramatic changes. But in the past, I’ve revitalized my prayers by reading aloud Psalms, especially psalms of praise. There’s something about praying and telling God how incredible and majestic he is that brings an instant connection to God. I think of it as the “hallowed be thy name” step in the Lord’s Prayer.

I’ve also had some good experiences with Susan’s suggestion to pray for other people. I like the change of heart that comes from praying for someone I’ve had friction with.

By: david r.

david r. — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 03:01:44 +0000

If I’m not mistaken, the Lord cautions us against VAIN repetition, not repetition per se. I’m also mindful of the sometimes thoughtless way we breeze through the hymns on Sunday.

By: SilverRAin

SilverRAin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:45:56 +0000

I love it. Some of my most poignant prayers happened when I couldn’t find words.

By: MCQ

MCQ — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:38:05 +0000

Thanks for the comments and recommendations. Thinking about prayer as a conversation, rather than a petition or audio presentation is a good idea. Not sure if I’ve discussed that with my son before, but I will.

Clark, not sure if you’re joking, but vocabulary isn’t the problem. He’s feeling like he’s just repeatedly addressing the same subjects, like checking off a list.

CJ and Susan, that’s an incredibly good idea. I pray while walking the dog, and sometimes find myself talking out loud in places where people can hear me. Embarassing, but good prayer time.

Paul, I’ve never tried writing things down as I think of them, but I think it’s a good idea. Remembering to do it is the hard part there.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:50:34 +0000

Great recommendations. I think the idea of being quiet in prayer is an excellent one, if one can stay awake. :-)

I also like the conversation recommendation.

Something else (which might be more than a teenager is ready to do) is to jot down ideas during the day to talk about.

I learned to pray with a pencil and paper on my mission (eg, to have one ready to record thoughts). I don’t always do it, but when I have a “big” topic I sometimes do.