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JAMES - Why don't Mormons say The Lord’s prayer in their services? Do they ever say it? Jesus commandmed the people in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon to say it.

JOEL - Jesus said:

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (Matt. 6: 9)

He did not command them to say His prayer word for word the way He did; He only used it as an example of how to pray. The phrase "After this manner", means to do it in the same way or as a pattern to follow.
In Matthew Jesus introduces the prayer by first cautioning his listeners to avoid "vain repetitions".

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matt 6:7)

To me repeating the Lord's prayer over and over would qualify as vain repetition.
Also the versions of the prayer in Matthew and in Luke are different. If we are supposed to repeat it exactly the way He did, how would we know for sure which one to use?
Latter-day Saints seek to have true communion with God by saying prayers from the heart. This is hard to do when one only repeats a memorized prayer. Actually we do occaisionally sing "The Lord's Prayer" song in our services. Does that count?

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