Jesus has already prayed:
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
— Matthew 26:39
Then when He returns to His disciples.
He finds them all
asleep.
So Jesus goes away…
and prays again.
This is where Matthew gives us an encouraging detail:
“So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.”
— Matthew 26:44
The same words...
again.
Jesus repeated Himself.
Not one time.
But again.
And again.
That’s worth remembering because sometimes we can start telling ourselves:
I’ve already prayed about this.
God already knows.
Maybe it’s not worth the time and effort to keep repeating myself…
Maybe continuing to ask means I don’t have enough faith.
But Jesus returned to the Father with the same burden…
and the same words.
Of course, Jesus had warned against “empty phrases” in prayer (Matthew 6:7).
But the problem He warned against isn’t repetition itself.
The problem is empty repetition.
There is a difference between mindlessly saying words…
and repeatedly bringing the same—real—burden before your Father.
Gethsemane is everything but mindless.
Luke tells us:
“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly…”
— Luke 22:44
And I think that should challenges us most.
As His agony increases…
so does His prayer.
I think we often do the opposite.
We pray.
The situation doesn’t change.
We pray again.
Still nothing.
And eventually, discouragement starts to whisper:
What’s the point?
So, little by little…
we pray less.
But watch Jesus.
The cup hasn’t passed.
The cross is still ahead.
His emotional weight hasn’t disappeared.
Yet Jesus doesn’t withdraw from the Father.
He presses further into His presence.
And maybe that’s because prayer isn’t just about convincing God to change our circumstances.
Sometimes prayer is where we are strengthened to faithfully walk through circumstances that don’t change.
Jesus’ prayer doesn’t remove Gethsemane.
It carries Him through it.
Soon He’ll stand up.
He'll face Judas.
Face the soldiers.
Face a trial.
And ultimately, He'll face the cross.
But before He stands before any of them…
He falls to His knees in submission to the Father.
So if you’ve been praying the same prayer for weeks…
months…
maybe even years…
don’t assume repetition means God isn’t listening.
And don’t assume persistence means your faith is weak.
Jesus prayed the same words again.
When the agony became greater…
He prayed all the more earnestly.
Maybe the moment we’re most tempted to withdraw from prayer…
is exactly when we need to press into it—deeper.
Praise be to God.
— Drew
P.S. A strong prayer life isn’t built on always knowing the perfect words.
Sometimes it’s simply learning to keep returning to the Father with what we already have.
That’s the kind of dependence I hope these resources help cultivate.
Someone you love may need permission to keep praying.
- Maybe they’ve asked God the same thing a hundred times.
- Maybe they’re discouraged because nothing seems to be changing.
- Or maybe they’re beginning to wonder whether God is listening at all.
Forward this to them.
Sometimes the encouragement we need isn’t a new answer…
it’s a reminder to keep bringing the old prayer back to the Father.
And if today’s letter raised a thought or question, hit reply.
I read and respond to every one.
If someone forwarded this email to you…
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what they believe—
but why it’s true.
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