And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. The Gentile prayer practice of verbal accumulation — repetitive formulas, long invocations, the hope that quantity of words will produce divine attention — is the second error corrected before the Lord's Prayer is given. The many words of pagan prayer reflect a theology of petition that attempts to compel the deity through persistent verbal pressure. The empty phrases (battalogeo, possibly onomatopoeia for babbling) are the opposite of the focused, trusting address that Jesus models in the prayer that follows. Isaiah 29:13 describes worship with the lips while the heart is far away — the heap of words without engagement is the verbal equivalent.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse