A message transmission method and a device are used to accelerate a random access procedure. The method includes: making, by a terminal device, a first random access attempt at a coverage enhancement level 0, where the first random access attempt includes determining first transmit power based on a first power control parameter and/or transmit power of a first random access preamble message; sending, by the terminal device, a first transmission message and/or a first uplink control message to a network device by using the first transmit power; making, by the terminal device, a second random access attempt at the coverage enhancement level 0, where the second random access attempt includes determining second transmit power based on a second power control parameter and/or transmit power of a second random access preamble message, and the determining second transmit power includes determining that the second transmit power is greater than or equal to the first transmit power; and sending, by the terminal device, a second transmission message and/or a second uplink control message to the network device by using the second transmit power.