WATCH AND PRAY

The Lord has made me aware of the extreme importance in keeping watch (being alert and on guard) and praying every day. So, why is this necessary? We discover the answer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus said, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee (John and James) along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”

It is difficult to imagine the depth of sorrow that Christ felt that evening in Gethsemane. He knew what lay ahead for both He and His disciples; therefore, He wanted them to be watchful and in prayer.

“Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed. “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. This statement echoes throughout the Church today. “Church, can you not keep watch and pray?”

Where was the compassion, love, and self-sacrifice that Peter, John, and James should have shown the Lord? Was it asking too much of them to pray one hour? Is an hour each day with the Lord too much to ask of us?

Then Jesus warned Peter, “Watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Peter would painfully and tearfully realize later that night, that because he had not spent time in prayer with the Lord, fear would drive him to deny Christ three times.

We are susceptible to all kinds of temptation unless we are daily watching and praying, for the enemy is constantly prowling the earth, looking for those whom he may destroy. His plan is to keep God’s Church and His people spiritually asleep, because a sleeping, impotent Church and its people—empower Satan.

[Jesus] went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” When He came back, He again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.”

How many times have we tried to read God’s Word when suddenly and inexplicably our eyelids became heavy and quickly yielded to sleep. The enemy of our soul will do whatever he can to prevent us from reading God’s Word and praying.

So, [Jesus] left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then He returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinner (Matthew 26:36-45).

Jesus had known that His enemies would soon arrive; therefore, He cautioned His disciples to remain alert and prayerful. He cautions Christians to be alert and prayerful, for we know not what challenges each day will bring.

Satan has lulled the Church to sleep since the Second Great Awakening. Too many churches have become social clubs where people look to be entertained and feel better about themselves. There is no sense of urgency to pray and seek God, even though the world is in turmoil, babies are daily murdered, liberties are threatened, and every kind of evil is pervasive and abounding.

The Church was sleeping when prayer was removed from classrooms and abortion was legalized. The fear of offending has caused many pastors to compromise the Gospel and replace it with a watered-down version to placate their congregations. Jesus certainly did not worry about offending. In fact, He angered many, who would plot to kill Him.

We live in very dangerous times as the earth groans under the weight of sin. We never know from one day to the next what may happen. “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour” (I John 2:18 ESV).

In other words, we are living in the last days and time is short. That is why Jesus implores us to “always be on the watch and pray that [we] may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that [we] may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

There are many who are lost and bound for hell, but the Church is not preaching the full, uncompromised Gospel to bring the lost to repentance. Christians are ignoring opportunities to pray with others and even share the relationship they have with the Lord. And then there are those who are apathetic and indifferent to the lost.

How different the world would be, if God’s people would be diligent and faithful each day to watch and pray for their families, their government, their leaders, schools, their workplace, co-workers, pastors, and churches.

God promised that when we call on Him and pray to Him, He will listen to us, when we seek Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:12-13). The question remains: “Are we seeking God with all our heart, and are we watching and praying as we await His return?

PRAYER: FATHER, I ask forgiveness for not watching and praying as I should. Place within my heart an urgent desire to daily pray for this nation, our leaders, my family, friends, my church and pastor, co-workers, and the lost. Help me to be diligent in reading and studying Your Word, for it is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105). In Jesus’ name, amen.