The Problem with Memorized Prayer

Often, I have heard people complain about memorized prayer as if the prayer is not a "real" prayer because the speaker did not make it up out of the overflow of their heart at that very moment. I say, the problem with memorized prayer is not the prayer itself, but he who prays. It is a challenge to make each prayer our own; to allow Christ to speak through both ancient words and new ones.
Jesus himself gave us the Our Father prayer. He tells us to say those words, to pray those words, when we go to the Father. How bad, then, can memorized prayer be? Again, I say, it is not the prayers itself, but our flawed nature that is so distracted by this world and all that passes by, that we do not choose to concentrate on the words given to us by the holy brethren of the past. If we let the Holy Spirit move us, we can be as moved by written prayers as we are prayers of our heart.
In times of distress, when we can not think, it is the memorized prayers that assist us most. How beautiful it is to have prayers given to us for such moments when we can not concentrate. How easy it is to say: Hail Mary full of Grace...when we are so distracted by the situation in front of us. Even: "Jesus, savior of the world, have mercy on us"...how can these words not have a good influence on us, even if we aren't fully concentrating on them?
Negative words create negative thought, positive words create positive thoughts. In this way, so to do our holy words, muttered in a time of distress or just plain distraction, create holy thoughts. God can work through our failed humanity to bring us closer to His perfection. If we offer up our situation, our prayers, to Him, he will take them and make them far more than we ever could. What love is that? We can never be good enough, or holy enough to save anyone, yet He offers us a way to help our brethren and takes these offerings, adds to them His perfection and, in this way, allows us to be part in helping those we pray for.
St. Paul says: "I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ's sufferings for his body, the church." Col. 1:24 NLT
In conclusion, I suggest that, when we can't concentrate,we offer up our thoughts and prayers using the memorized prayers that our Church has given us. When we can concentrate, we can ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in new prayers from our heart or to help us make the memorized prayers come from our heart too.