The Drill

Matt.26:^{42 & 44} “Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again.”

Mysteriously, it seems that God Will Not Act Unless We Pray. Mysteriously, even though God knows everything He Still Wants Us To Ask About What He Already Knows. Mysteriously, God wants us to keep asking about The Same Thing, Even Though We Have Asked Him Before. Mysteriously, while He wants us to keep on asking, it seems He Finds Some Repetition Worthless and “Vain”. Matt.6:^7-8 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” So why do we have to ask over and over? Is there a contradiction in scripture? Of course not; it is a mystery. However, we can shed some light on this just to help us, even though it will never be exhaustive.

What God was saying is that the Gentiles think that it is the repetition of those words or the intensity of those words that brings their answers. But that is not it, it is faith in God through Christ that results in answered prayers. So, when we repeat our prayers, our hope is not in the power of our repetition. Our hope is in the existence of our God and Father. It is because of that hope that we take the position that we are not going to give Him rest until we see what we want. Huge difference! He Himself says in Isa.62:⁷ “Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.”

God wants us to keep asking but He finds some repetitions worthless and vain. So, which of the prayers should we pray without ceasing because obviously, He says that we should pray without ceasing [nonstop, do not give up], and which is vain repetition? What I can say is, we will become experienced as walk with God and we will know what to say and what not to say. You will become experienced as you walk with God, such that as you begin to pray, you will know that for this particular request, you will have to tarry in the place of prayer, roll up your sleeves and birth it. Yet, you will pray some other prayers and know almost immediately that you do not need to pray any further because it is done. How do you know the difference? The more you walk with God, the more you press into the spirit realm. The more advanced you become spiritually, the more you are able to tell the difference.

However, to help people who think repetition is an issue because of the scripture in Matthew 6, let’s look at the classic example of Jesus Himself in the garden of Gethsemane in Matt.26:36-44 [please read]. We see from this passage of scripture that Jesus prayed “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine”, one single prayer point for one hour.  And He prayed the same prayer three times in the same night.

Prayer [song]: Show me Your ways, that I may walk with You. Show me Your ways, I put my hope in You. The cry of my heart is to love You more… Amen!