Is repetition of prayers more effective?

March 22, 2012 by Jon

I recently was sitting in a church and saw the motto “P.U.S.H.” (Pray Until Something Happens”) on the wall! I was thinking of how people often pray for healing, salvation of others, etc. and wonder if God wants us ask repeatedly.

This is my faith hurdle. −Jon

Jim

Great question!

The Bible recognizes the value of persistence in prayer, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always” (1 Chr. 16:11). It also warns against laziness in the same, “You have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel” (Isaiah 43:22).

But your question has to do with repetition. I suppose it depends on what we mean by “more effective” and what heart attitudes the repetition reflects.

If by P.U.S.H., I’m viewing God as a vending machine that I need to bang on until the candy bar drops, then I would say any result that I get is despite my repetition rather than because of it. Jesus corrects this error in Matthew 6:7, esposing it as pagan.

But that does not mean all repetition is vain either. Jesus called on the Father three times with the same prayer as he approached Gethsemane. The Psalms include prayers that were evidently meant for repeated use in public worship. So we might ask what the reason our purpose for such repetition is.

Repetition of prayer might reflect personal earnestness, authentic faith or righteous commitment (Hebrews 11:6). These are qualities in the lives of petitioners that God does reward. So it isn’t the repetition that is more effective (or not), so much as the heart that it reflects.

I also suspect that repetition in prayer is a way in which God guides. I’d compare that to the way I might discuss a decision with my wife. We might go over the matter on more than one occasion. The conversations might repeat themselves, or they develop into new insights or directions. Of course that requires that we spend time listening as well as repeating our concerns.

I recall praying for my sister-in-law as she was dying of cancer many years ago. At some point it became clear to me that God wanted me to pray for something other than her healing. Perhaps that is similar to why Jesus stopped after three prayers in the Garden. Interestingly, Paul also stopped praying for his thorn in the flesh after three repetitions, and came to accept the sufficiency of God’s grace. On the other hand, a Canaanite woman found relief for her demon possessed daughter after pleading three times (Matt. 15:21-28). As near I can tell, the apparent “reluctance” of Jesus was to deepen her faith in the reaches of his mercy and riches of his grace.

Last, I would say that repeated prayer can be “effective” in honing our appetite for the blessings God wants to give to us and to the world.

“You who call on the Lord,
give yourselves no rest,
and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem
and makes her the praise of the earth.” (Is. 62:7).

The prophetess Anna gives us an example here (Lk. 2:37), persisting day and night for over 50 years in the temple in fasting and prayer, precisely because she anticipated the redemption of Jerusalem.

A big topic and I’ve only scratched the surface. Perhaps the most important guideline is to remember that effective prayer grows out of appropriate personal relationship with God through Jesus.

Hope that helps!
http://www.soulation.org Jonalyn

Jon,

Love that you think critically enough to wonder about sloganeering in our churches.

Personally, I think prayer does change things, but sometimes it’s God working on our behalf, other times we change.

Jim makes some great points to that effect here. I love the many verses he cites.

Unfortunately the P.U.S.H. idea makes it sound like we can wear God down with extra pleading.

That would make God capricious to those extra pesky and annoying types. Not very god-like to my mind.

I do have to mention Luke 18:1-8 about the persistent widow who wore down the unrighteous judge. However, this parable is more to contrast the judge with our God who is not slow to save and doesn’t have to be worn down with excessiveness.

And Jesus does say to not engage in “meaningless repetition” so I think the manner and expectations of our prayers are quite important to God. It’s not wrong to ask again and again, but not in a meaningless, “I am going to wear God down” fashion.

I am curious what the P.U.S.H. slogan did to you when you first saw it?
Jim

Jonalyn puts it nicely: “Personally, I think prayer does change things, but sometimes it’s God working on our behalf, other times we change.”

It is so important to see and value both!

I’d also be interested to know in Jon’s initial response to the P.U.S.H. slogan that got him reflecting.
Jon

My initial response was that P.U.S.H. sounds catchy, but, is it what God wants for his people today? (Thus, leading me to pose my question on this site). I personally believe prayer is one of the biggest ways we can exercise our trust in God. I think back to my Plymouth Brethren upbringing and remember men praying publicly for healing in a fellow Christian, and then finding out after the service the person had died! I have also often thought about how true Garth Brooks song is, “Thank God for unanswered prays”…these examples both showing what Jim was eluding too in his comments. Jim wrote, “God wanted me to pray for something other than her healing”.

Our requests need to have God’s will mixed in and not just our wants/needs, desires, or selfish ideas. I believe I need to be listening and open minded to when an answer is given so I will not miss it! “Yes”, “No”, or “Not Now” are all good answers!! But as far as the repetitive nature of prayer, I remind myself of when I was a child, I pestered my dad for candy or a toy I wanted. It often was selfish, was tuned out by my father, or sometimes apparently annoying enough to get the item. Should we treat our Heavenly Father like this? Or as Jonalyn pointed out “other times we change”.
- http://www.soulation.org Dale Fincher
  
  Jon, thanks for adding to the discussion. I love what Jim wrote above… a helpful survey.
  
  The first passage that came to mind with your question was Luke 11. In my Independent Baptist theological upbringing in the KJV (similar to your Plymouth Brethren), I was taught that the “importunity” of the man, the persistence of the man (v8) to ask for bread is what prompted his friend to give the bread. On the heals of that story, Jesus says, “Ask and you shall receive…”
  
  The lesson I was taught was that if we importune God, if we persist and persist, even in a PUSHy way, then this is what it means to “Ask and you shall receive.” I heard preachers evoke the language of Jacob and say, “You need to wrestle with God in prayer. You need to tell God, ‘I won’t let go of you until you bless me and answer my prayer.’” Not only is that not the point of Jacob’s story, it reinforces the importunity of the PUSH method that is likely out of context.
  
  But I don’t think this is what Luke 11 is saying. It is saying, on one hand, that the man had the audacity to ask, even if embarrassing. Who wants to go his neighbors house after they are asleep and ask for some spare rations. Do you go at midnight to your neighbor’s for eggs because your guests are hankering for an omelet? No… social protocol then and now say it is inappropriate. But not so with God whose house is always open.
  
  What is more, “audacity” is one of the translations we could give this “importunity”, as the NIV says. It can also mean (says the NIV) that the man inside the house wanted to protect his own reputation. He cared more about his reputation than his friendship with his neighbor.
  
  That fits into the context better… ask and you shall receive. If you lack the audacity to ask, if you cannot come to God as one who loves you and open to you but are rather afraid or embarrassed, then you will not receive. You don’t even believe God is good enough to give. We need to understand the character and compassion of God. Later in the context, the character of God is reinforced that God will not give you a stone if you ask for bread. Have confidence that he cares. His motivation is as father and friend even more so than his reputation (if I’m reading the context rightly).
  
  In my own life, I find myself praying my anxiety to God… I ask repeatedly (not vain repetition, but repetition) because I am not yet content with my situation or feel anxious about it and need his comfort and care. What I really want to know from God is this: Are you in charge? Are you aware? Can you help? Once I am confident in his grace and love in a situation, I find myself praying less about it and more resting in him. My prayer changes to “what should I do next for my part while you do your part?” rather than, “Will you have a part?”
  
  I’ve struggled with prayer, philosophically, because I’ve often wonder why God needs me to tell him what is going on when he can see the needs better than I can. God knew my mom was going to get cancer, had cancer, and would die from it. He loved my mom. My mom’s story was not contingent on my prayers for her… God’s love for her were not contingent on my prayers for her. It all felt bizarre to me to be praying for something God cared more about… this God who says “take no thought for tomorrow for God knows your needs…” (Matt 6).
  
  And then there are folks who have no one to pray for them. Does God not help? And then there are those who are part of the church’s “prayer-chain” and have hundreds or thousands (or if on twitter, tens of thousands) praying, and are they better off, will God hear them more? There is certainly more PUSHing going on.
  
  My mom used to joke that she hopes God can ignore all the kooky prayers people are praying for her. All those who PUSH in the wrong direction.
  
  At the end of the day, where does it all leave us? I find it leaves us relaxing back into God’s care, sharing with him our struggles and worries, sharing with him what we would want to see, participating with him in focusing our hearts with his on all that is going on around us.
  
  Oswald Chambers said prayer doesn’t change things; prayer changes me and I change things. I don’t believe that. I think prayer does change things… that is, God allows himself to be influence and allows us to engage with participation in his work. But he has the last word. I would hope he is resilient enough, secure enough in his own person, to know that no amount of PUSHing is beyond what his good, acceptable, and perfect will really is.
  
  In that I can take confidence that my prayers are heard by my father who gives bread instead of stones and invites me boldly to knock on his door at any time and for any need.
  - Jon
    
    It has been very helpful to me, to see the logical manner in which you have come to some conclusions about PUSH. I like the careful interpetation of the Bible verses used and the personal examples as well! Thank You!! Thanks also for such a helpful site!
http://www.soulation.org Jonalyn

Jon,

Getting more of your thoughts is good. I agree that the peskiness of our requests tells us a lot more about our selfish needs than what God may want for us.

Great point that we need to listen as we pray and not just push! All of which makes me think that this acronym may be inappropriate.
Stephen

We could change the acronym:

Pray Unless Something Happens

or

Pray Until Someone Happens

or

Prayer Underlines Spiritual Happenings

or

People Underestimate Spiritual Happenings

or

Pray Unless you See Heaven Already.

or

Pause Until you can Sing “Hallelujah”

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