Some Prayers Need to be Repeated

Once more he went away and prayed the same thing.

Mark 14:39

What is going on here? Why is Jesus praying the same thing again in the Garden of Gethsemane? Does He think God doesn’t hear Him? Does He think God needs to be asked again?

I don’t think so. Although Jesus was clearly wrestling in prayer in the garden, I don't think He was wrestling with God. He wasn’t trying to convince God to do His will. No, Jesus was wrestling in prayer against His own human will. He was praying Himself into a more willing submission to the Father’s will.

Have you ever prayed something you really didn’t want to pray or said something you really didn’t want to say? If you have, then you know it’s hard to really mean it from the depths of your heart at first. But, eventually, over time, you get more used to the idea and surrender yourself to it more and more as you pray it again and again. With each prayer you mean it a little more until, eventually, you can pray it and really mean it.

That’s how I understand the time Jesus spent praying in the garden. As He prayed “not my will but yours be done” over and over again, He became more and more settled in His surrender to the Father’s will .

This is a helpful reminder to us that some prayers need to be repeated. They need to be prayed over and over again. Not for the Lord’s benefit but for our own. Sometimes it takes a lot of praying to bring your will into alignment with God’s will. Sometimes it takes a lot of time and effort, a lot of wrestling in prayer, to be able to pray something and really mean it.

So, pray earnestly. Pray seriously. Lift your prayers up to the Lord over and over again until you really mean what you are praying, until you are fully surrendered to His will in your circumstances.