Watch and Pray

37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Mark 14:37-38




I had one of those nights last evening, you know, the kind where I had so much to do today at work that I couldn’t get to sleep as a result of my mind spinning out of control about all of the activities that will be happening today in the office. Sometimes, our best efforts to either go to sleep or to stay awake are not good enough to keep our bodies from responding the way that we would want them to respond. Similarly, if we try within our own power to obey God and to live our lives in such a way that honors Him, we undoubtedly will fail. The two key words here in this example by Jesus are “watch” and “pray”. First we should always be watching with the eyes of our heart the world around us in an effort to discern how the Spirit is working in our lives and how God would want to use us in the lives of others that we encounter today. Second, and no doubt the most important task on our part as Christ followers is to always be in prayer as prayer and communication with God is what the Christian life is all about. It is through prayer that the power of God is revealed in and through our lives; it is through prayer that we begin to understand the heart of God; it is through prayer that we are healed and transformed from the inside out to be more like Jesus. Watch and pray today as God uses your life to have an impact for Him in this fallen world in which we live!