Watching and Praying

Day 40: Matthew 26:14-46

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” - Matthew 26:41 ESV

Jesus is on the cusp of suffering unimaginable torture, not only because the Romans were activated to do so but also due to the sins of you and me. The grief associated with something this massive was too much, even for Jesus. He cried for another way, just as any of us would have done.

Jesus took his top three, the three who seemed to be the most volatile. Even these three, firey as they were, He found to be asleep. Even with heavy sorrow, Jesus still sees an opportunity to tell these three what it will take to make it through the next season they are about to walk through.

It will take watching.

It will require praying.

The temptation is too heavy otherwise.

To watch is to be alert.

To pray is to not rely on our own strength.

What is there in your life right now that is causing you to be distracted from the discipline of prayer? Though it may often seem optional, it is not. It is essential to us becoming the people God desires.

"The weakness of the flesh is a permanent problem of Christian discipleship, which calls for constant vigilance and for the prayer which Jesus has already prescribed in 6:13." - France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 1, p. 378)