Repeat Prayers Still Work!

What do you do when your prayers feel like echoes—repeated cries in a world that refuses to change? In this episode of The Press Movement Podcast, we journey through the final chapters of Jeremiah’s writings, specifically Lamentations, and confront the emotional and spiritual weight of persistent intercession. Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, didn't just pray once—he prayed again and again, even when answers never came. Through his example, we’ll explore what it means to press in prayer when pressure mounts, when standing for truth feels isolating, and when God seems silent. This episode is a powerful reminder that even prayers on repeat are heard, and even in lament, there is purpose. Whether you’re tired, discouraged, or simply seeking deeper strength in your prayer life—this conversation will stir your faith and remind you: God is listening, and your endurance in prayer still matters. Tune in and be encouraged to press again.

Transcript

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Press means to apply force. When God said "press," prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through. And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us.

Welcome back, everybody. Thank you for joining me today for The Press Movement Podcast, as we are wrapping up the books written by Jeremiah by concluding Lamentations.

Now, we started not to release this episode. We started to just kind of skip this prayer because, in all sincerity, looking at Jeremiah and Lamentations—as the title of Lamentations insinuates—Jeremiah is lamenting. He is noted as the weeping prophet throughout history. And it is with cause. His weeping is with cause, and the title is with cause, because really, when you look at the prophecies of Jeremiah and the writings of Jeremiah, what you see is his heaviness.

You see his sadness. And so, in discussing this episode, we really were torn because there's nothing new to say. Essentially, Jeremiah has been in mourning for many years, and now he's still in mourning. He's still dealing with a rebellious people. He's still begging God not to judge them.

In fact, he's just stuck in a revolving prayer door. And for that reason, we had thought, “Let's skip this particular prayer,” because we didn't know what context to add to it or anything of that nature.

But as I began to pray about it and to think about it, a few things came to mind. One of the first things being: how many times have I been stuck? And how many times am I grateful that God has not left me or told me to change the subject?

You see, there are some prayers you may actually pray for a lifetime. There are some things assigned to you that God may have you carry—He may have you intercede for. He won't just take it away, but you are the voice that reminds Him of His mercy. You are the voice that gets His attention. You are the voice that intervenes for a generation, for a family, for a people. And in that, you can't get tired of praying the same prayers. You cannot be discouraged because it doesn't look like anything's going to change.

Jeremiah had the responsibility of pleading with God for a people. But he also was able to stand for God in a time where those standing were few. And we are approaching a time where standing is going to become more of an abnormality—where the closer you are to God, the more you are going to stand out. Because everybody says, “Yes, I know Him,” or “He's my God,” or whatever. There’s a lot of Christians out there. But a lot of them drop off as you start talking about what it means to be Christ-like—what it means to suffer, what it means to endure, what it means to stand.

And because many of us are called to stand in this hour, we're going to have to learn to pray—and pray again, and pray with the same weight, pray through the same fights. Some of the prayers are just for the strength to keep standing.

This is what I see in Jeremiah throughout all of his prayers. You see where he prayed for the people, he prayed concerning the mercies of God, but he also prayed for himself. The other thing I learned—point number two—is that people may get tired of hearing you say the same thing over and over. But God... God lets you come to Him again. I'm so glad that, in looking at the scriptures, He allows you to pray over and over and over. He allows you to come to Him even when it looks like you're coming with the same stuff.

And for those who don’t know God, that may prompt questions like, “Well, what’s the point in coming if I'm going to feel the same way?” or “What’s the point in coming if nothing's going to change?” You know, in reality, I actually wrote a whole book on prayer, and I answered those questions. The commercial's at the end of this, so we'll skip it for now. But for those who know God, you know that when you've come to Him and when you've gotten in His presence, even when it feels like the trials of life are on repeat, there is something amazing about being in the presence of God.

It is a comfort that goes to your soul. It is a comfort that is not equaled by any person or anything. And in that, I understand why Jeremiah had to run to God—why, even when the people wouldn't change, and they're threatening him, and they're talking about him, and he's trying to be the one standing throughout Jeremiah and Lamentations, he had to come to God. Because it is a true saying: He is the source of my strength. He is the strength of my life.

And when we run to Him—when the righteous run to Him, when they run to His name, when they run to who He is—we're safe.

Proverbs 18:10 says it like this:

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and is safe.

When we—being the ones who are right, who follow Him, who love Him, who keep His commandments—when we run to His name, there is a safety in the name of the Lord. And that word safe means: to be high, be inaccessibly high, be exalted, to be set securely. Our God has made it so that in His name we can be secure, even in the face of exposure.

I think you see that concept again in Psalm 23, when David wrote:

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…

Think about that—where He tells you to sit down, get comfortable, take in nourishment—is in front of everybody who's against you.

Psalm 27:5 says it like this:

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.

In a lot of ways, we would think of a rock as a place that would expose us more—a place that, though it’s elevated, is seen. And being seen can be such a negative thing. But God knows how to keep us, protect us, and preserve us even when the enemy's got his eyes on us.

And so, for that, we run to Him—not for physical safety even, but because He knows how to save and preserve our souls.

Jeremiah kept running to God, though life felt like it was on repeat—though the fight felt like it was on repeat. And for him, it was. Though he was being threatened, though he had to stand alone, though the people would not hear him, though God would use him but not change the people—still, Jeremiah stood.

And so, as we read these final prayers from Jeremiah, we don’t see in Jeremiah or Lamentations where he gets the response from God that he wants. He doesn't get to see the people change. He doesn't get to see them live out their deliverance or repent.

But what we do have on record is the transcript of an intercessor, of a prophet, of a servant of God who knows how to cry aloud to God, get heaven’s attention, and finish his course.

So we'll read these final prayers of Jeremiah, and I pray it encourages you—that even the prayers that are on repeat are still going up to God, and He can use the situations that are on repeat in your life to encourage somebody else and strengthen you.

Lamentations 3:55 says:

I called upon Thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.
 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not Thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon Thee: Thou saidst, Fear not.
 O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life.
 O Lord, Thou hast seen my wrong: judge Thou my cause.
 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.
 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me;
 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their music.
 Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
 Give them sorrow of heart, Thy curse unto them.
 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.

And he continues praying in Lamentations chapter 5:

Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
 Our necks are under persecution: we labor, and have no rest.
 We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honored.
 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
 Thou, O Lord, remainest forever; Thy throne from generation to generation.
 Wherefore dost Thou forget us forever, and forsake us so long time?
 Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
 But Thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us.

I pray that even if you're on repeat as Jeremiah is—that even in this prayer today—you heard his faith, his heart for the people, his understanding that God is who He is, the plea of mercy, the compassion, the worship, and recognizing the help that is needed. And you can testify of his endurance in prayer, even when it looked like there was no answer, and even when he would not see the answer.

But we’ve gotten to see that God did not leave His people. We’ve gotten to see that, though Jeremiah had to pray it, had to write it, had to live it, we can testify: God has still come through for His children. And the things He said to Jeremiah were true and have endured the test of time.

All of the answers you want in your life—you may not get to share the testimony of saying, “I saw Him do it,” but when you walk with Him, you'll know He did it even if you don’t see it.

God bless you. And don’t forget to press, because prayer reaches every single situation.

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Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears?

I know some of us have prayed, and we’re wondering: How long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God’s not listening?

But God is listening for your voice. It’s too quiet in this world for the troubles we have. You have to raise your voice, and God wants to hear from you.

It’s Too Quiet, a book about prayer, is designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith.
Visit presstopray.com