Fifty years later I now hear Catholics who, in a grass is always greener mindset, think they now need to abandon rote prayers, as if something they make up on the fly is more “real” prayer. They forget what Jesus himself tells us,
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.
Even more Jesus tells us why.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
God does not need me to tell him what to do. He does not need to see me beg like a child desperate to have his way.
Some will claim that they are praying in the spirit. St. Cyprian in writing about the Our Father says
What prayer could be more a prayer in the spirit than the one given us by Christ, by whom the Holy Spirit was sent upon us?
In this Lenten Season, let us spend more time in prayer, but let us also keep our prayer simple. Prayer is not us telling God what we want; it is the lifting of our mind and heart to him.
