Many non-Catholics, when they see the words of our Lord in Matthew 6:9, seem to see only the word "repetitions", and thereby conclude that Jesus is condemning all repetitious prayer. They neglect to notice that Christ deliberately adds an adjective in front of the word "repetitions", i.e., "vain", so as to distinguish it from other types of repetitious prayer. (It should be noted that other translations, like the ESV, will translate it as "empty phrases", or an equivalent, but, again, the adjective is key there as well.) This is important to keep in mind, for nowhere does Christ condemn repetition in and of itself, as would have to be the case to argue against formal prayers like the Rosary. And, in fact, as we shall see later on, in many places of Scripture itself we see examples of "repetitious prayer" presented in a positive light. Unless we wish to say Scripture contradicts itself, we are forced to conclude that repetitious prayer can be legitimate.
However, before showing the positive Scriptural evidence for legitimate repetitious prayer, one should point out the obvious: that it is not only Catholics who use "repetitious" prayer. Everyone does. Of course, there are going to be "set phrases" that people use in any prayer almost. Some of them in common use, like "Dear Heavenly Father" or "in Jesus's name" are so ingrained for some people that they sometimes forget that such phrases are, after all, "repetitions" [1]. Yet would they thereby conclude that Jesus condemns such "repetition" when he states "when ye pray, use not vain repetitions"?
Or again, another obvious example would be hymns. After all, hymns are (at least when the lyrics are addressed to God) simply prayers set to music. Yet they obviously are often repetitious, both within the song itself (such as the refrain), and also by the mere fact that the same hymns are sung more than once. Indeed, over time people may sing the same hymns so often as to have the lyrics memorized. Yet would such constitute "vain repetition" or "empty phrases"?
The answer to those questions is: "Of course not!" That is because repetitions need not be "vain", nor such phrases "empty". And it is only meaningless repetition (as distinct from meaningful repetition) that Christ condemns. Jesus is condemning what the "heathen do". And what was that? As the Zondervan King James Study Bible notes in its commentary on this verse:
[The heathen] used long lists of the names of their gods in their prayers, hoping that by constantly repeating them they would call on the name of the god that could help them. Jesus is not necessarily condemning all long prayers, but meaningless verbiage in praying [emphasis mine].While, of course, it is possible for any "repetition" to be done in a meaningless fashion (like in singing a hymn without paying attention), that is where the danger lies. It is not the repetition itself that is a problem, but doing it in a meaningless manner (and that danger can affect "spontaneous prayer" as well).
But what if such repetitious prayer is done in a meaningful manner? Then it is perfectly acceptable. For, after all, we see Scripture itself positively portrays repetitious prayer in many places.
The Psalms are perhaps the most obvious example of "repetitious prayer" in Scripture. These prayers were (and still are) prayed over and over again, as indeed they were meant to be (and which the early Christians continued to do; cf Jam 5:13). Even within individual Psalms we see repetition, including "litanies" (for instance, Psalm 136, in which every one of the 26 verses ends with "for his mercy endureth forever").
Moreover, we know that in Heaven itself there is "repetition" that is not "vain". The book of Revelation states concerning "the four beasts":
[....] they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Rev 4:8b)Similarly, in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read concerning Jesus that, after finding Peter, James, and John asleep:
[....] he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. (Mark 14:39)Finally, to give just one more example, in the very context of Matthew 6:7, we see Jesus warns against "vain repetitions" as a prelude to...giving an example of the right type of repetitious prayer, the "Our Father" prayer, which was meant to be prayed more than just once, obviously.
In short, so long as prayer is done in a meaningful manner, and not just heaping up "empty phrases", then whether it is spontaneous or repetitious, it is pleasing to God, who looks at the heart.
Notes
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[1] I'm also reminded of a joke I saw once about a person praying along the lines of "Lord, I just really want to praise you, and I just really want to thank-you, and I just really want to ask you to please remove the words 'just' and 'really' from my prayer vocabulary." (What makes the joke so funny is how accurate it is! I remember when I was a Protestant myself seeing people keep repeating "just" and "really" like that all the time. Of course, I do not blame them for that; complete “spontaneity” is not part of our nature, and “repetitions” well reassert themselves in our prayer anyway.)
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