Verbal rehearsal of material — the shopping list you recite as you walk the aisles of a supermarket — is part of our working memory system.
The psalm you recite when you cannot take another step -- Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death -- is poetry.
As Todd Eldredge is fond of reciting, "You can't win the competition in the short program, but you can sure lose it there".
According to the Talmud, one who sees a great king or political leader, recites, "You are Bountiful, Holy One our God, Sovereign of SpaceTime, who gives of Your power and glory to flesh and blood".
Find some positive mantras that you can recite when you feel down.
It might help to have a mantra you can recite when you notice your thoughts turning obsessive.
Try to recite everything you memorized before you go to sleep as well.
If, however, you're so tired that you find yourself forgetting what you're saying as you recite your prayers or you doze off in the middle of your Tahajjud, don't attempt to complete the prayer.
Recite what you're going to say in your head and if you know it's something you shouldn't say, hold your tongue.
