Saying The Same Thing

"He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.' 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, 'What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.' 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, ' O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.' 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words." Matthew 26:39-44

On this Thursday before Good Friday, I was contemplating the whole situation of Jesus' life, from the Last Supper through the death, burial, and resurrection, when I read this part of Scripture, and something jumped out at me that I had never realized before. Jesus prayed the same prayer three times. I realize that this will probably end up not being about Easter/Resurrection Day, or whatever you call it, but so be it. I have been told so many times by so many people, people whom I looked up to and respected, that God doesn't want to hear our repetitiveness. And here we have Jesus Himself, praying the same prayer three times in a row..."the same words" it tells us. But it isn't just about whether it is right or not to pray the same prayer over and over again. No. It is much more than that. It is about the urgency of the cry of our heart, and the inability to think about or pray about anything else but our current situation. And I don't believe that God turns a deaf ear to that. He loves us with a perfect love that will not let us go.

I believe that our Father in heaven never tires of us coming to Him, regardless if it is repetitiveness or not. The Word says "let your requests be make known to God" (Philippians 4:6). I don't read any conditions there. No fine print. No asterisk clauses. Just the simple statement about letting us make our requests known unto God. Whatever the situation, beloved, we can let our requests be made known unto God. And the God of the universe, the Creator who flung the worlds and planets and stars and moon and sun into place, the Creator who speaks and multiple universes come into being, that God wants to have a relationship with you and me. He wants to live inside us. He longs for relationship with us. So much so, that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to make reconciliation between God and man, Him and us.

Jesus faced a situation where the cross was set before Him, and that He must bear the sin of the entire world past, present, and future, and He knew the Father would turn away from Him in that hour. Yet He did not pray once, or even twice, but three times, using the same words. So beloved, if in the urgency of your heart, and in the need of your situation, all you can do is pray the same thing, it is okay! God knows, God hears, and God is faithful to answer. He loves you! He loves me too! Shalom!