We all know it's not an issue if people say the Lord's prayer or not, but except for the fact that JW's make it an issue. To them it's kinda like the boogie man and to say it makes you part of christendom, ripe for destruction.
This thread is in response to another thread.I finally took some time to look into information to make a reply.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/130602/2.ashx
A JW commented on that thread
Matthew 6:7 starts by saying, "But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, ..." That's just 2 verses before he gives begins to outline some key and acceptable elements in a prayer.
I was simply responding to moomanchu directly above my last post. Many millions do repeat the "Our Father", or "Lord's Prayer", believing that the words themselves are important; in reality, Jesus was stressing thoughts and priorities, rather than an exact "magic-like" formula.
In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the way churches use the Lords prayer, in fact I think they are correct for using it and the witnesses are wrong for not using it. .
It all comes down to Matthew 6:7
New World Translation
But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again,* just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for there use of many words. footnote: *Or, "do not babble words; do not utter empty repetitions."
NIV
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their of many words.
footnote: babbling like pagans. They use long lists of the names of their Gods in their prayers, hoping that by constantly repeating them they will call on the name of the God that could help them.
NAS
And when you are praying, do not use meaning less repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
The command not to "keep on babbling like the pagans" has obvious consequences upon this discussion. The Greek work translated as, "keep on babbling," is the verb "battalogeo." (This is, of course, a transliteration of the Greek.) This is the only occurrence of the word in the New Testament. We have to break it down in order to translate it. The verb "logeo" means "to speak." The prefix, "batta," is not a word. Good scholarship demonstrates that it is an onomatopoeia … something we learned about in grade school. For example, we say that a cannon goes "boom," or a machine gun goes, "rat-tat-tat," or a bee goes "buzz." The onomatopoeia is an action that is being sounded out. In this case, "battalogeo" means, literally, "say ‘batta’" in a repetitive fashion. Jesus is literally saying, "And when you pray, do not keep on saying "batta, batta, batta…" like the pagans do. It seems absolutely clear to me that this is a prohibition of repetitive, unspoken, unknown language in prayer … the very thing that people who claim the "gift" of a "private prayer language" practice in their devotional lives.
Some will try to dismiss this understanding of the word, "battalogeo," focusing instead upon the translators and commentators who hone in on the issue of "repetition." They claim that this is an indictment of repetitive prayer. But did not our Lord pray in the Garden of Gethsemane that "this cup" might pass from him … three times. It is not simply a reference to repetition. Jesus is talking about simply "making noise" when we pray.
Then, notice the words that follow. They are often referred to as "The Lord’s Prayer." Jesus instructs his disciples to speak, in their own language, words of reverence, request, repentance, and guidance directly to God. His instructions are crystal clear. This is how He wanted his disciples to pray, with no mention whatsoever of any mysterious, unknown language.
And think about the many other examples of prayer in the Bible. How did Jesus pray from the cross? Did he cry out in unintelligible speech? No. He spoke in his native Aramaic. How did Jesus pray in the garden? By using spoken, intelligible language. Indeed, I challenge any reader to find a single incident of the exercise of a "private prayer language" in the Scriptures.
Another good explanation:
The warning is against meaningless repetition, not against meaningful repetition. Jesus himself prescribes a prayer for repetition (the Lord's Prayer) and, in practicing Jewish liturgical prayer (for example the Passover liturgy), made use of repetitive prayer. Jesus warning is aimed at reminding people that our prayers are not magical and that we don't somehow muscle the Almighty into cooperating with us by talking him to death or using just the right magical formula. It is not aimed at the use of repetition in meditative or liturgical prayer. So-called "spontaneous" prayer can be quite empty and liturgical prayer can be quite full. The goal is full prayer, not mere avoidance of repetition.