Or, “in praying.” What follows is a continuation of the subject, not the introduction of a new one.
Use … vain repetitions.
Gr. battologeō, a word occurring only here in the NT, for which the following meanings have been suggested: “to speak stammeringly,”“to say the same thing over and over again,”“to babble,”“to rattle off,”“to speak without giving thought to what is spoken.” Jesus did not proscribe all repetition, for He Himself used repetitions (ch. 26:44).
As the heathen do.
Compare 1 Kings 18:26; Acts 19:34. Tibetans believe their prayer wheels repeat the same prayer countless thousands of times without thought or effort on the part of the worshiper.