Is the bible confusing? On the one hand it says not to pray with vain repetitions like heathens. On the other hand it says “Pray like this ‘Our Father who is in heaven, holy is Your name....’”.
Jesus did not say "pray THIS" He said pray LIKE this..that is a pattern for prayer not a prayer
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.m Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
. The next topic is fasting and the message is parallel re. hypocrisy.
For me, the Lord's Prayer is a model prayer. Certainly, there's nothing wrong with praying scripture. It is a blessing to do so. There are many other scriptural prayers that can be recited.
I see the Lord's Prayer as a model. "...pray like (ESV) (houtōs) this..." The word means: in this way (referring to what precedes or follows): — after that, after (in) this manner, as, even (so), for all that, like(-wise), no more, on this fashion(-wise), so (in like manner), thus, what.
There's a pattern to follow: who are you addressing? what are His qualifications? what is your relationship to Him? what's YOUR condition? what is the status of your relationship to your neighbor? And much more!
It's when the prayer becomes rote ("babbling"-NIV) that it becomes meaningless. Others have made note of this point beforehand.
Is there any recorded example where anyone prays the Lord's Prayer- verbatim, in any letter or epistle?
THAT IS NOT TO SAY we should not recite the Lord's Prayer but there are many recorded prayers after Christ gives the model - and they are all inspired and all beautiful! (Amen?)
Like means similar to; for they asked HOW to pray; not WHAT to pray.