Some Christian apologists [Protestants] often attack the Jesus Prayer, which Orthodox Christians repeat, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
They claim repeating this prayer is sinful because of the verse about "vain repetitions." But that is not what the verse actually teaches.
These apologists often quote "do not use vain repetitions" and assume that means repeating prayers is wrong.
But read the verse carefully. The problem Christ condemns is vain repetition, not repetition itself.
The pagans believed that saying more words and to be seen by men would magically force their gods to act. It was superstition, not prayer.
The irony is that Scripture itself shows righteous repetition in prayer.
In Gospel of Matthew 26:44, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed to the Father three times saying








