Praying is a beautiful act of worship wherein we glorify God by demonstrating our faith in, and dependence upon, Him.  Praying with vain repetitions, however, reduces prayer to empty words.  It turns prayer into a mere recitation of words instead of an honest approach to God’s throne.  Jesus condemned this kind of praying.

Matthew 6:7 (NKJV)
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.

We must avoid the use of meaningless, mechanical phrases when we pray.  Some repeat the same words and phrases without thought or sincerity, and that is unacceptable to God.  Worship must always be from the heart.

John 4:24 (NKJV)
²⁴  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

To worship God in spirit is to do so with the right attitude, and it emphasizes the place of the heart in worship.  By heart, I am referring to the biblical heart, that is, the intellectual part of our being—the mind.  Our minds must be involved in any act of worship in which we engage.  

Romans 12:1 (ESV)
¹  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

The word “spiritual” comes from a Greek word that refers to that which is reasonable or rational.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words.
“…is used in Rom. 12:1, of the service (latreia) to be rendered by believers in presenting their bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.” The sacrifice is to be intelligent, in contrast to those offered by ritual and compulsion …”

Acceptable worship, then, is intelligent worship.  It involves knowing what we are doing, and why we are doing it.  Thoughtless repetition is a violation of this.  Make sure that whenever you pray, you are giving thoughtful consideration to everything for which you are praying.  When you are being led in prayer in a public setting, listen closely to what is being said.  How else can you sincerely say amen?

Vain repetition is not referring to repeating oneself in prayer or praying for the same thing more than once.  Paul prayed three times for God to remove the thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8).  We should be persistent with our requests to God.  In Matthew 7:7 when Jesus teaches us to ask, seek and knock, the force of the Greek is to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking.  Our persistency in prayer shows God how much we desire what we are asking for, and how much we trust in Him.  God likes persistency (Matthew 15:21-28; Luke 11:5-8).

Let’s remember that it is not repetition that Jesus condemns, but vain repetitions.  Vain repetition includes using words that we speak out of habit instead of from the heart.  Every prayer should be new and unique, not a memorized conglomeration of words from an unfeeling heart.  Those kinds of prayers are hypocritical and insincere, and a hindrance to effective prayer.              

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.