GOD'S CALL TO WATCH AND PRAY

The popular slogan, “Prayer Changes Things,” can be found on anything printable or engravable. Yes, prayer does change things, but most importantly, it changes our hearts and the hearts of those for whom we are praying. Prayer keeps the heart with all diligence, for out of the heart flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). As we read Jesus’ conversations with the disciples on the evening of His betrayal, we understand why prayer was critical that night.

Jesus warned the disciples, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night…” (Matthew 26:31 NKJV). Peter quickly said that even if all stumbled, he would not. Jesus responded, “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” Peter vehemently declared, that even if he had to die, he would not deny Jesus. And all the disciples said the same (Matthew 26:35).

  Jesus knows the heart of every man, woman, and child. He is acquainted with all our ways. He knows when we sit down and when we get up; He discerns our every thought from afar. Even before we speak a word, the Lord knows it (Psalm 139:1-4). Jesus knew the sincerity of the disciples’ hearts, but He also knew their flaws and their inability to walk in faith. That faith would later arise within them upon receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Following the Passover meal, Jesus and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus told the disciples to sit and pray (Matthew vs. 36). He then took Peter, James, and John with Him. Deeply troubled and distressed, He told them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch” (Matthew 26:38 NKJV).

Later, Jesus returned to the three and found them sleeping and said to Peter, “Simon (which means to listen), are you sleeping?” In other words, “[Listen to what I am saying]. Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (vs 40-41). When Jesus returned a third time, the disciples were still sleeping.

Jesus addressed Peter because he had been the first and most vocal in stating he would never deny Christ. Interestingly, he could not stay awake three times which corresponds with denying Jesus three times. What might have happened had Peter stayed awake and prayed?

There is a correlation between warning the disciples and warning the Church to “be alert and of sober mind (serious, humble). For our enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  For that reason, Jesus urges us to “watch and pray.”  “Resist [Satan] and stand firm in the faith (Peter 5:8-9).

  We are warned, “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ” (Colossians 2:8 NLT). Jesus is calling His Church out of its slumber, “Remain awake, alert, and pray! Be My voice where there is no voice! Pray without ceasing!”

  Jesus warns of things to come. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are notalarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24).

  Again, we are warned in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, reckless, treacherous, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So, avoid people like these.”

  The Church has slept while the world has grown more sinful with each passing year. The Church was silent when prayer was removed from schools. The Church was silent when abortion was legalized.

  A 2022 Pew Research report states that 61% of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal all or most of the time, while 37% say it should be illegal all or most of the time. The few fight for what is biblically and morally correct, instead of following the world’s standards and beliefs.

  Jesus directed His comments to seven actual churches in Revelation that represent what is both wrong and right in today’s churches:

·  Church of Ephesus had lost their first love for Jesus.

·      Church of Smyrna was the persecuted church and pleased God. *

·      The Church of Pergamos was the compromising church that worshipped God and the world.

·      The Church of Thyatira was corrupt. They were sexually immoral, committed adultery, and murdered their own children. God said that He would give them according to their evil works.

·      The Church of Sardis was the dead church. Everything they did was for show and had no substance.

·      The Church of Philadelphia was the faithful church which God encouraged to continue in their works so they would be rewarded. *

·      The Church of Laodicea was the lukewarm church. God said, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16 NKJV).

Smyrna and Philadelphia were two churches out of seven who did what was right in the sight of God. The other five churches represent the many problems in today’s Church. So, roughly, 71 percent of churches are not doing what is right, and only 28 percent are doing what is right in God’s eyes. God called those five churches to repent and turn from their “wicked ways.”

Astonishingly, only 36 percent of current pastors hold a biblical worldview, which includes the much-ignored Book of Revelation. That leaves 64 percent of pastors who ignore Revelation. The key to understanding Revelation is studying the Old Testament, which forms a bridge with Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 and connects it all to Revelation.

Too many churches are winking at sin and are spiritually asleep, with many not seeing the urgent need for repentance and prayer. God is calling the Church (not the world) to awaken and turn from its sinful, immoral, and irreverent ways and seek Him and pray. For “those who seek the LORD understand all things” (Proverbs 28:5).

There is not a man or a political party that can save this world. Only by repenting and turning our hearts fully to God can He intervene and restore this nation.

PRAYER: FATHER, we live in treacherous and uncertain times. Forgive us for lukewarmness and failing to be a light and standard bearer for You and Your Word. Give church leaders, and their congregations strength, purpose, and a desire to become more like the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia. Help us to spiritually stay awake as we pray for the world and those around us. May we be Your shining light that draws others to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.