I must admit, I am guilty of that too! I am guilty of talking too much when I pray. I repeat the same phrases that I have learned a long time ago without even paying any attention to what I am saying, what I am asking God for. When I think about this, I realize that quite often my prayer looks like some kind of mantra that I repeat every day. I ask God for the same things daily, I thank Him also for the same things, I recite the rosary or read the breviary. But often my mind is somewhere else. Sadly, often, prayer is not something I am looking forward to, but rather some kind of ritual or task that I have to fulfill daily. Well, God does not want our prayers to look like that. “Jesus said to his disciples: In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” And then Jesus teaches them what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It is a short prayer, but it contains all we need to say and to ask for. No, God doesn’t need my many words repeated daily, but He wants a simple prayer in which I will praise Him, acknowledge Him, thank Him for all I have and also ask Him for the things that are necessary for my salvation. I don’t need to ‘babble like the pagans’ anymore.
