How do you pray for a long time without being repetitive


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Guest Mores
7 hours ago, Alemmedial said:

I read in the bom profets who cried unto the Lord all day and all night, but how did they do it without being repetitive?

I'm guessing some of it was very repetitive.  I'm just guessing that they did indeed have many things they said from some formal prayer or they repeated passages of scriptures.  Sometimes when I pray, I point out scriptures.

Quote

Father, thou hast said... (insert scriptural promise or principle)... and I've tried to do... I need help with... and I call upon the promise made ... (insert covenant or promise here)...

I've been able to... then I had this problem... show me how to...

Additionally, I don't know how literal that could be.  Your throat would get hoarse.  The "crying" may have been actually shedding tears -- having a deeply emotional commitment to the conversation.

Prayer is not just about the words.  It is about communing with the Lord.  It is about reaching out to him and listening as much as speaking. 

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I've been in a few bishoprics as a clerk or secretary or whatnot.  Those people know how to pray.  They keep going and going.  Often we're kneeling, I have to turn around and face a chair so I can take the weight off my knees with my arms.  They just don't run out of things to pray about, people to pray for.  Not just the individuals and families in the ward, but they also pray for our church leaders, for the various difficult situations people are experiencing with winds of cultural change, the plight of our youth trying to be righteous, our eroding religious liberties, the list goes on and on.

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I have been praying more than I ever have in my life, except possibly my mission.  I am repeating myself often, but I don't think it qualifies as a vain repetition.  If you really mean it, and it helps you feel like you are communicating and communing with Heavenly Father, then go ahead and repeat yourself.  But also, like @NeuroTypicalsaid, there are so many things to pray for, once you get going, you can find plenty to pray about.

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Guest Mores
14 minutes ago, Vort said:
18 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

What's wrong with repetition?

What's wrong with repetition?

And again I say...

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"Vain" means useless, self-serving, or pompous. If we spill out trite phrases with no thought for their meaning just so that we follow the form of prayer, I believe that is a vain repetition. If we continually ask for a blessing that we have already been given to know won't be forthcoming, I think that's a vain repetition. If we pray to be seen of men, as when we're asked to be the voice for a congregational prayer and take the opportunity to decorate our prayer with fancy-sounding phrases instead of humble petitions, that seems to me like a vain repetition.

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27 minutes ago, Vort said:

"Vain" means useless, self-serving, or pompous. If we spill out trite phrases with no thought for their meaning just so that we follow the form of prayer, I believe that is a vain repetition. If we continually ask for a blessing that we have already been given to know won't be forthcoming, I think that's a vain repetition. If we pray to be seen of men, as when we're asked to be the voice for a congregational prayer and take the opportunity to decorate our prayer with fancy-sounding phrases instead of humble petitions, that seems to me like a vain repetition.

I think I fall into the pattern of vain repetitions when I say standard prayer stuff by rote instead of thinking about it and meaning it. A la "Bless the food that it will nourish and strengthen us..." It's not the repetition that's the problem. It's the repeating by habit without even thinking about what I'm asking. I particularly love it when this sort of prayer is said over something despicably unhealthy. Like when the extended family gets together for a potluck dessert gathering and then the food is blessed to nourish and strengthen us.... 🤔

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Guest LiterateParakeet
17 hours ago, Alemmedial said:

I read in the bom profets who cried unto the Lord all day and all night, but how did they do it without being repetitive?

I like to ponder and think through problems, questions etc when I pray. Often answers come to me during that time, that I never considered before. 

Also I find that very specific prayers for others are more effective than generic requests. So during my prayer, I ask what does this person need? I ponder and ask for those things. 

Sometimes I just say, Heavenly Father, I know this is silly but I'm so excited about that new pocket knife I ordered.  

I set aside a period of 30 minutes a day (while I'm driving actually) to do this. I have other more formal (close eyes, fold arms) too.  I think the longer prayers get easier with practice..and the more you do it the more comfortable you get with really conversing with the Lord. 

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  • 4 months later...
On 5/29/2019 at 1:51 AM, Alemmedial said:

I read in the bom profets who cried unto the Lord all day and all night, but how did they do it without being repetitive?

Personally....  I visualize Messiah Yeshua - Jesus and the Ancient of Days the Father  being right beside me.......

I visualize the Holy Spirit right beside me....  as a person which is a new understanding to me because I did not 

regard the Holy Spirit as a Person until recently.......

I sometimes tell Messiah Yeshua - Jesus things that I think He would regard as funny..........

 

Sometimes I think and think and think and think and give Messiah Yeshua something of a challenge.... for example... to have fun with the 

strange and unusual things that I just prayed to Him and/ or on behalf of His authority????

 

Sometimes I attempt to give to the Ancient of Days the Father.....  something that I believe he could show a re-run of in hell......

to the Devil..... and get the Devil laughing....... (perhaps not for the best of reasons....... but laughter is laughter)....... which may cause

both G-d and the Devil to take one possibly significant step toward each other??????  

Edited by DennisTate
spelling... specifically.. Captiol letters....
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  • 3 months later...
On 5/29/2019 at 1:18 PM, prisonchaplain said:

Now I am wondering if "vain repetitions" are those offered to false gods (the prophets of Baal come to mind)? Then again, maybe they are repeated prayers for that which we know full well God will not/should not give us ...:pray:  :dontknow:

The keyword is vain repetitions is the word "vain", not who you pray too or what you're praying about. As I read the definitions, vain would be self-serving, self-loving and narcissistic or, praying for the sake of being heard so that everyone who hears you think, boy - that guy really knows how to pray.

If you're alone, you can probably repeat yourself a thousand times and it wouldn't be vain... unless you think God is watching and thinking, boy, that guy really knows how to pray.

Edited by brotherofJared
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I remember I took a break from work to pray and as I walked around the building, I said, God, please help me, maybe about a 100 times before I finally got help. Christ mentioned a person who repeatedly complains will get attention if for no other reason than to get them to stop complaining. I believe he was applying that to getting help from God as well.

I see no problem with repetition. But please don't do it for the closing prayer. I will get up and leave before you're done.

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On 5/29/2019 at 12:51 AM, Alemmedial said:

I read in the bom profets who cried unto the Lord all day and all night, but how did they do it without being repetitive?

Because praying and talking to God are the same thing. Couldn't you talk to someone you love all night long? And, if you think about it, praying is adoring, to be so in love and to want to be relating every second to your loved one. That's how prophets in the OT were with God. 

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Sleeping is not praying

13 hours ago, e v e said:

Because praying and talking to God are the same thing. Couldn't you talk to someone you love all night long? And, if you think about it, praying is adoring, to be so in love and to want to be relating every second to your loved one. That's how prophets in the OT were with God. 

Sleeping is not praying and for all the effort, I do not recall ever talking to anyone that long without falling asleep. And I do not recall talking to anyone for any length of time where I did not repeat myself. And, as I recall, every friend, loved or not, eventually told me to shut up and go to sleep. 🤣

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2 hours ago, brotherofJared said:

Sleeping is not praying

Sleeping is not praying and for all the effort, I do not recall ever talking to anyone that long without falling asleep. And I do not recall talking to anyone for any length of time where I did not repeat myself. And, as I recall, every friend, loved or not, eventually told me to shut up and go to sleep. 🤣

well, I was only referring to others here, as a poor analogy, just for the idea...

 

God has more patience, seeing as He has dealt with us for centuries now... and still He stays with us, and  Miss) (His Spirit) comforts us.

Edited by e v e
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6 hours ago, e v e said:

well, I was only referring to others here, as a poor analogy, just for the idea...

 

God has more patience, seeing as He has dealt with us for centuries now... and still He stays with us, and  Miss) (His Spirit) comforts us.

Sorry. Your post reminded me of friends staying up late at night to talk. I just couldn't help myself

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1 hour ago, brotherofJared said:

Sorry. Your post reminded me of friends staying up late at night to talk. I just couldn't help myself

i don’t mind. i remembered when i was little at catholic mass falling asleep from the drone of repetitive prayers. and recalled praying is not chanting.  

i wish i could describe meeting him. i could have listened to Him forever... my body got so far away. talking to Him was more adoring awe... i wasn’t talking in a language but inside my soul... if that had continued more more than an hour i would not have come back... 

Edited by e v e
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On 2/7/2020 at 10:42 AM, brotherofJared said:

Sleeping is not praying

Sleeping is not praying and for all the effort, I do not recall ever talking to anyone that long without falling asleep. And I do not recall talking to anyone for any length of time where I did not repeat myself. And, as I recall, every friend, loved or not, eventually told me to shut up and go to sleep. 🤣

Falling asleep while someone talks is very pleasant... it’s like falling asleep while someone else drives. :)

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On 2/7/2020 at 10:42 AM, brotherofJared said:

Sleeping is not praying and for all the effort, I do not recall ever talking to anyone that long without falling asleep. And I do not recall talking to anyone for any length of time where I did not repeat myself. And, as I recall, every friend, loved or not, eventually told me to shut up and go to sleep. 🤣

My husband and I drove from Florida to Cleveland Ohio once and debated capital punishment the whole way. 

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12 hours ago, brotherofJared said:

Yes. but that was a two-way conversation. We don't often get a chance to debate with God.

I don't have to have a debate with my husband to talk to him from Florida to Ohio.  As a matter of fact, I spend 3 months or more sometimes away from my husband and my inner dialogue with him can go on and on all day.

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