Then
he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, "Simon, are
you asleep? Couldn't you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so
that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the
body is weak." Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as
before. When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they
couldn't keep their eyes open. And they didn't know what to say. When he
returned to them the third time, he said, "Go ahead and sleep. Have your
rest. But no—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of
sinners. Mark 14:37-41
Can you pray
while you sleep? Can you sleep while you pray? Focusing on one thing is always
good. No multitasking during prayer. Peter, James and John were not praying or
really keeping watch as Jesus had asked them to do. Have you tried to pray for
an entire hour? When I’ve done that several times at first I thought…what can I
possibly pray about for an hour? Well, then I had an agenda…my prayer list.
Praying for specific things, specific people and using scripture to focus my
prayers has allowed me to pray for even more than an hour at a time. God likes
us to pray His words…His scripture back to Him. That was a lesson I learned a
while back…and not too sure where that comes from, but it is a good use of scripture.
 |
| Watch and Pray Garden of Gethsemane - near Jerusalem |
Don’t give
into temptation. Temptation to sleep. Ahhh. I’ll just close my eyes for a
minute. That may have been what those disciples thought. I would have. Haven’t
you felt the same way resting in a nice quiet place after a big meal? Sleep. Keep watch and pray…. For the spirit is
willing, but the body is weak. The temptation to sleep is so strong. He
came back to the disciples again and again. Three times…and found them
sleeping. Were they lazy bums? They sure weren’t listening and obeying. Watch and pray. Can you watch and pray…and
sleep? No. We cannot pray while we sleep, nor can we sleep while we pray.
Jesus prayed
the same prayer to His Father…over and over that evening. That is a good
example to us. To keep on praying the same thing is alright. If Jesus did, so
can we. He gave His disciples a good parable about this very issue…to keep on
praying.
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show
that they should always pray and never give up. "There was a judge in a
certain city," he said, "who neither feared God nor cared about
people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, 'Give me justice
in this dispute with my enemy.' The judge ignored her for a while, but finally
he said to himself, 'I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is
driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is
wearing me out with her constant requests!'" Then the Lord said,
"Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision
in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen
people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell
you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns,
how many will he find on the earth who have faith?" Luke 18:1-8
So wear God
out with your constant requests…and praises to Him. He wants to hear your voice…to
hear from you.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 NASB
With
thanksgiving…with a thankful heart. For all things come from God—to whom we
should be thankful.
Prayer
~ Lord God, I am thankful for all that You have provided for me…physically and
spiritually. You are an awesome God…and I want to watch and pray…and not fall
into temptation. Thank you for always hearing my prayers.
Daily
Bible Reading: Isaiah 5-8
© 2018 Text and
photo by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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