Do Catholics ever give up on praying because the prayers are repetitive and formulaic?

No offence taken! Yes, some prayers may be repetitive or follow a formula.This happens not only in the Catholic Church but in all faiths, particularly in a service. It does not lose any meaning because of that and sometimes is more meaningful and important when thousands of people are saying the same prayers together.

We don't give up on praying, and other times we pray to God in our own words and listen to Him too.

God bless

Your question assumes that all Catholics always pray with formulas. This is entirely untrue.

The second problem with your question is that the focus is on the person praying, not on God who is hearing our prayers. Praying isn't about making sure we're not bored or that WE are getting something out of it. It's about praising, thanking, asking of, or apologizing to our Father in Heaven. God loves all sincere prayers, scripted or not. Only God sees the heart of the person praying.

We pray just as freely and spontaneously as any other Christian.

We also say prayers taken directly from scripture (the Hail Mary, the Our Father), and prayers handed down form our Christian ancestors (the Creeds, the Glory Be).

If you have a favorite verse of scripture you like to read, or have ever posted a relevant piece of poetry or a wise saying on, say, your bathroom mirror or office wall, you should be able to understand how it's possible to keep finding meaning and value in something you see, read, or say all the time.

When you love someone, do you tell them only one time?

No offense taken, but you're working on some assumptions that simply aren't true.

For one thing, the prayers of the Church (there are hundreds) offer a richness and depth of expression and are far from "formulaic". For another, availing ourselves of them is not the ONLY way in which we pray. They augment our own prayers, and also unite us in prayer with each other. We aren't "reciting them to God" -- we are making the words our own. We can, and should, and do, have spontaneous conversations with God. But how often do our poor words fail us? Those are the times when the prayers of the Church are especially precious.

The Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Fatima Prayer, the Memorare, the Angelus, all of these and more -- they can express what is in our hearts, often much better than we ourselves. And let's face it, there are times in life when we're too overwhelmed to compose ourselves enough to pray coherently. Sometimes all we can manage to choke out is the precious name of Jesus, over and over and over again. Do you think God gets tired of hearing the name of His Son prayed in such a manner? I don't think He tires of the angels singing "holy, holy, holy" without cease, either.

Sure, it's possible to just rattle off a memorized prayer over and over with no more thought behind it than reading a grocery list. But even in those cases it is better than no prayer at all -- the words do register, on some level, regardless. Christians in general, ourselves included, don't give God much to work with sometimes but He uses whatever we give.

With particular attention to the Rosary, which more often than not gets a response from non-Catholics that involves Matthew 6:7, the reason for the repeated prayers is a bit different. The purpose of the Rosary is to prayerfully meditate on the mysteries of the Gospel (events in Jesus' life). In repeating the prayers, the part of one's mind that would otherwise be easily distracted is occupied; in moving the beads through our fingers, we have a tangible reminder of what we're doing; and in the meditation on the mysteries, we enter fully into the life of Christ. There is also an element of time involved in repeating the prayers, which helps us to linger in each mystery.

There are many ways to pray, and since one's prayer life is a private matter between an individual believer and God, it's really not up to anyone else to critique it. If saying a Rosary, for example, isn't everyone's cup of tea, that's fine. But neither should those who do pray it with love and devotion be made to feel that they're not praying correctly. I know that wasn't your intention with this question, but it is rather common among those who really don't "get" why we use the words of others when we pray.

Didn't Jesus tell us to pray the Our Father (Lord's Prayer)? Isn't that kind of "formulaic"? Don't Christians often repeat this prayer? I've been to Protestant services and I often hear the same prayers and verses repeated over and over again. Not that I mind.....just that I smell some hypocrisy here.

A lot of Catholic prayers are straight out of Scripture. I can't see anything wrong with repeating God's holy words.

And by the way, what's wrong with repeating things that are true over and over? If your children told you every single day "I love you, I love you!" would you scold them for being vain and repetitious? Of course not.

God loves the prayers of all Christians, and that includes the Catholics.

Peace be to you all+

"Pray without ceasing"

Do you pray the Our Father? Do you repeat it over and over and lose the meaning?

I didn't think so.

And neither do we.

It is not the repetition that is the issue. It's the vanity. God looks into our heart, not solely at our words.

Paul commands us to pray constantly. Good repetition is different than vain repetition.

Rev. 4:8 - the angels pray day and night without cessation the same words "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty." This is repetitious prayer that is pleasing to God.

No. Repetition itself does not conclude a loss of meaning. People who pray words out of their head can lack meaning or feeling as well. Repetition allows for a person to pray with more intensity because they don't have to formulate prayers in their head always trying to "think" of what to say next. Instead they can meditate and concentrate on Christ, on his death and resurrection, on his mercy and forgiveness etc.

Meaningless words aimed towards God are always wrong. They can be repetitive or made up as you go. Only what is in your heart and mind can make those prayers purposeful and meaningful.

No.

Catholicism includes a rich tradition of both informal (in our own words) and formal prayer just like our Jewish forefathers.

The Church teaches "the memorization of basic prayers offers an essential support to the life of prayer, but it is important to help learners savor their meaning." In other words, the Church emphasizes that formal prayer should not be mindless lip moving but instead a formal expression of clearly understood and heartfelt sentiments.

The verse in question reads, in the King James Version, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

Jesus is not talking of the repetitious prayer of the Jews in which Jesus would have participated in and who He would not call heathen.

The important Greek word here for "vain repetitions" is battalogeo, or babbling. The heathens had a magical perception of prayer and thought the more they babbled to their gods, the more that that god would respond. I Kings 18:26 is an example of this:

"And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered."

Then, two verses after the warning in Matthew against "vain repetitions," Jesus gave us the "Lord's" prayer, which most Protestant Christians pray with no qualms about praying "in vain."

The same command in Luke 11:2 reads: "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father..." -- "when you pray, say..."

In addition, Christ prayed in repetitions:

+ Matthew 26:44: "And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words."

+ Mark 14:39 reads: "And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words."

The angels pray repetitiously:

+ Revelation 4:8: "...and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."

God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

The Psalms are a collection of prayers and litanies, which were prayed formally in the Jewish synagogues and early Christian churches, are still prayed in synagogues and Catholic churches today -- and were even prayed by Christ from the Cross.

The liturgy of the synagogue was (and is) filled with repetition and formalized prayer. Christ said "use not vain repetitions, as the heathens do.” Were the Jews heathens? Jesus also prayed in the synagogue in this way.

They prayed (and still pray) the sh'ma twice a day and, in their liturgy, the Shemoneh Esrei, the Kaddish, the morning blessings, the Aleinu, etc. Check out a Jewish siddur (missal) sometime; does it look more typically Protestant or Catholic?

Hymns are prayers. Is it "vain" to sing "Amazing Grace" more than once?

Catholics do not babble but pray from the heart in formal and informal prayer.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, part four: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt4sect1.shtml

With love in Christ.

Since Jesus gave us the Lord's prayer as he teaches us to pray: More than once in (Matt & Luke), I am sure this is a Proper Prayer (Worthily to speak to God). This one prayer, given to us by Jesus himself, can be the perfect means to address Our Father. We can and do place our own request in verse.

Prayer should never be a mass of meaningless mumble...making no sense...Prompted for display...That sounds more like the whole church breaking out speaking in tongues thing...babbling with no interpreter. Not that I don't believe in the gift...I see it as a gift of the Holy Spirit...just as the Bible explains it...Not a "learned" expression.http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=wXVpqP1Uts4

Is the Rosary scriptural? Yes, Totally. The words God sent to Mary via Gabrial...How can God be wrong? The entire Rosary is a devotion to Christ...So, again how can that be wrong.

Prayer is all about humility and devotion...asking, "Gods Will Be Done". Why spend your time if your not in this sate...We don't.

Peace be with you.

I am not Catholic. But I 'do" have the same God as everyone else. And I do know that whomever, "wherever" and "however" a prayer is said, God hears us, no matter what. You are being honest with your question, and I with my answer. There is nothing wrong with you wondering, okay?

No

I've been Catholic for almost 20 years.

I was brought up mainstream Protestant.

As children, we said our "repititeous prayers"...

Before going to bed,

"Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep"

and grace before meals,

"God is Great, God is Good"

and of course...the "Our Father".

Even Jesus prayed a third time in the garden of Gethsemane, saying the exact same words again.

So the answer is No.