Chanting Is Just Chattering

“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”— Matthew 6:7 NKJV

Battalogeo: The Greek verb used in Mathew 6:7 which means babbling or chattering, similar to the sounds an infant makes. The contextual Biblical meaning is to pray in empty, meaningless phrases or in vain repetition, rather than using heartfelt words spoken with conviction and sincere thought.

Who in your life do you have a close relationship with that you communicate to through mindless, repetitive, yapping?

No one.

So, while some believe there are physical, bodily benefits to creating vibrations with the mouth, chanting has nothing to do with building a relationship with God. (Personally, I wouldn’t even call it a “spiritual” experience. To me, it’s even more useless than engaging in “small talk” with people I don’t have a relationship with at all.)

Christians bring every thought, feeling, request, insecurity, question, fear, you name it, straight to Jesus! We can get into some long, personal convos with Him, and other times we just tell Him about our day! Sometimes, we replace all talking with singing, and belt out our love and gratitude to Him through (appropriate and meaningful) Christian lyrics (in a language we know.)

It doesn’t matter which religion is chanting, or what sounds it makes. It doesn’t matter if it’s mantra yoga or repeating the catholic “Our Father” 50 times— chanting is not a defining characteristic of relationship building and will never be.

If you want a real connection with God, just talk to Him like you would with anyone else you care about. Personally, I think the real relationship magic happens when He speaks back to us… and that usually happens when we’re quiet.

With Love, Michelle