I was considered a "troublemaker" for respectfully asking, through my friend, how one could obey the Bible's "pray continuously" if we could only mention everything in our life to God once. They never answered my question.
In Matthew 26, we see three times that Jesus went away to pray about the crucifixion.
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Jesus, a perfect, fully man while also fully God, was "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" and prayed multiple times about what He was about to experience. There is so much to learn from in this story, but let's focus on the fact that the Son of God was deeply troubled about His circumstances and prayed repeatedly about it.
My Savior gave me an example which comforts and reassures me that He understands what I am feeling when life gets very difficult. I am thankful that He gave us this story as a reminder to run to the Throne of Grace as often as needed by our troubled hearts.
When my heart is troubled, I am running to my Father over and over asking for help. When I am battling spiritually for a friend or a loved one embracing sin or plagued by a form of illness or beset by rough circumstances, I engage in heavy intercession. Sometimes that intercession is so constant and so draining that I am unable to function physically. I am going to keep running to the Father and asking for help with anything that troubles my heart. I also recommend you read Jesus' Parable of the Persistent Widow.
Dear Reader, Life gets very hard and some circumstances we face are so overwhelming we feel like we are being crushed from all sides. Every thought within us screams for relief from the situation. I've been there and figure you probably have been also. Maybe there is something troubling you right now. Take comfort from Scripture that you can confidently take everything to the Lord in prayer as often as your troubled heart needs it. Like Jesus, may we also have the faith and courage to pray "may your will be done."
