Vain Repetitions

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 16, 1908

It was not against repetitions in prayer and praise that the Saviour warned his disciples, but against “vain repetitions.” In heavenly vision John heard “four living creatures” offering their worship before the throne, and he says of them that “they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” This was continual repetition, but not vain repetition, for every time the form was used, it was filled with a greater fulness of meaning, and became the channel for a larger expression of their appreciation of the attributes and character of the King of kings. So it may be in our worship. The question of vain repetition may turn upon the frame of mind in which we present our expressions of praise and thanksgiving, rather than upon the mere form of words. “The heathen looked upon their prayers as having in themselves merit to atone for sin. Hence, the longer the prayer the greater the merit. If they could become holy by their own efforts, they would have something in themselves in which to rejoice, some ground for boasting. This idea of prayer is an outworking of the principle of self-exaltation which lies at the foundation of all systems of false religion. The Pharisees had adopted this pagan idea of prayer, and it is by no means extinct, even among those who profess to be Christians. The repetition of set, customary phrases, when the heart feels no need of God, is of the same character as the ‘vain repetitions’ of the heathen. . . . The most eloquent prayers are but idle words if they do not express the sentiments of the heart.” - “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”