I was singing a worship song that I love and as I continued to sing, I realized that the song only repeated itself. I then began to think of other songs I have sang in church and have grown up hearing around my house and how they were repeated as well. If not the song as a whole then certain verses and the chorus were.
In that moment, I felt the Lord showed me the importance and the power of repetition. The worship song I was singing in particular was Let Us See Jesus by William Murphy. When I repeat the words of a song over and over and sing them from my heart, I am charging the atmosphere, I am charging my spirit. I am highlighting what I need, I am saying Lord, this is what I am asking. This is what I am bringing to your throne. This is what I am laying at your feet. Lord would you see this? Lord would you hear this cry? Lord would you see this is my prayer? I am bringing attention to what I really need.
Repetition in prayer also shakes mountains and shifts the atmosphere.
If I can be honest, there are times when I find myself at a loss for words. Sometimes I repeat what I have said. I know that the bible says that we are not to babble before the Lord in prayer like pagans, but when I am at a loss for words, sometimes repeating what I have said is what I need.
What I have noticed is that the more I say it, the more weighty the words feel, the more power is added. My heart begins to stir and finds itself in the words I am saying. Then my feelings and emotions become subject to what I am saying. There is power in repetition.
I think the Lord wanted me to know more than anything that repetition leads to fruit. Being consumed in His presence comes not from sitting down once but continuing to meet with Him. Knowing what freedom feels like comes not from asking Him to take my chains off once, but continually going before Him with whatever I feel might be binding me, and asking Him to set me free. Having a deep and intimate relationship with Him does not come from praying once and singing a worship song once, it comes from continually meeting with Him.
Repetition of practices can lead to consistency.
I have been slacking with making prayer during the day something I repeat daily. I make excuses because I work and setting intentional time during a full work day is not easy. Or I say I will do this then I will spend time with the Lord. Whatever the excuse is, whatever they are, they have to stop! Failing to repeat meeting with the Lord during the day means I am repeating the act of not meeting with Him. That does more harm than good.
So today, I am going to start practicing meeting with the Lord during the day again. I will carve time out of my day until it no longer becomes something I have to make time for. I want to get to the place where my day is centered around prayer first then whatever else is on my agenda.
I will leave us with a prayer,
Father I thank you for another day of life. I pray that in my prayer time with you I would not be ashamed of repeating what I need the most. I pray that each time I repeat a word or phrase the weight of it would cause my surroundings to shake. I pray that you would hear my prayers and know they are from my heart. Lord I pray that as I worship and praise your name, I would begin to shake the heavens, that the words I repeat would not just be a song on my lips but they would become a song on my heart. I pray that as I meet with you today, during the day I would begin to repeat the act of spending intentional time with you and that all of my excuses would cease. I pray that you would continue to show me the power of repetition. I pray that each time I meet with you my faith would increase as I repeat what I need from you. In the times when lies are louder than your truth, I pray I would repeat your promises and that each time I say them they would become more powerful and strengthening.
I pray and ask all these things in Jesus' name, Amen