Posted on 04/06/2024 5:15:51 AM PDT by metmom
“He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’” (Matthew 26:40-41).
The need for spiritual vigilance by Christians is constant, but it can’t be achieved in the power of the flesh.
Jesus must have been terribly disappointed in the Garden of Gethsemane when He found the three disciples sleeping. As He labored diligently in prayer before the Father, Peter, James, and John began their desertion of Jesus. They could not even stay awake and offer Him support during His time of greatest need.
Given all that was happening, the Lord’s question, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?” was not a harsh rebuke. In the spirit of a mentor, Jesus exhorted the three about their need for divine help: “Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation.”
The phrase “keep watching and praying” indicates that all believers must have vigilance. Jesus wants all of us to anticipate temptation and seek God’s help to resist the adversary, just as He did during His vigilant prayer in the Garden.
Our own best efforts to overcome Satan will certainly fail. The only way to deal with the Devil is to flee immediately from him into God’s presence and prayerfully leave matters with Him.
But even when we know and seek to practice what Jesus told the disciples, it is often difficult to do what is right. Jesus saw His three dearest friends’ reaction and was in the midst of His own spiritual struggle, so He acknowledged, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The apostle Paul also knew the spiritual battle was real and very difficult (Rom. 7:15-23). But Paul was confident, too, that the only source of victory in our most intimidating spiritual challenges is obedience to the power of Jesus Christ: “Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (vv. 24-25).
Suggestions for Prayer
Ask the Lord’s forgiveness for any recent times when you have failed to be alert and diligent when praying.
For Further Study
Read 1 Peter 5:6-11.
What is the first key to spiritual success?
Why must we be alert for Satan?
What makes faithfulness in suffering worthwhile?
From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
Excellent message today.
Prayer For An Obedient Heart
Father, we are not of this world system but have a heavenly inheritance, reserved for us in heaven, and so I pray that I will not longer be conformed into the pattern of this world and squeezed into its mould, but day be day be increasingly transformed into the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Help me to take every thought captive and to surrender my heart and life to You in true obedience and godly humility. May we who are Your children be drawn closer to each other and to You as You do a good work in each of our lives. Build us up into a spiritual house I pray, where Christ is the cornerstone and may Your indwelling Holy Spirit, prompt and guide us, encourage and train us.
Lord, I surrender all I am to You today and pray that I may walk in newness of love and humble obedience all the days of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.
Source: https://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/prayer/prayer-for-an-obedient-heart-1366
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