“And when He got up from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from grief, and He said to them, Why do you sleep? Get up and pray that you may not enter [at all] into temptation.” Luke 22:45-46 (Amplified)
This particular moment in Jesus’ life was perhaps the most stressful. The pressure on Him was so much that He was sweating blood and needed all the moral support He could get. However, when He turned to His disciples for that vital support, they failed Him because they were too physically and spiritually drained to help themselves much less talk of helping someone else. When they needed to rouse themselves into spiritual battle, the disciples were just too drowsy to be cognisant of the momentous event that was unfolding before them. According to Jesus, had the disciples been able to pray through the demonic blockade that was evidently inducing their drowsiness, they would have avoided the various temptations that later befell them. In other words, they would not have fallen away from Jesus or renounced Him under duress. They would have steadfastly stood beside Jesus and proven their loyalty to Him.
The implication of Jesus’ statement/warning to us is that prayer wards off temptation. It energises our spirit and keeps us on the alert, thus enabling us to not only withstand whatever the enemy is throwing at us, but to also successfully launch a counterattack and win the day. This means that all the fear-filled negative actions that we read about the disciples immediately after Jesus’ death were avoidable. Thankfully, human frailty has never stopped God from doing whatever He intended to do, so the story still ended the way He had purposed. However, there is a stark warning for us, the modern day disciples, in what Jesus said. As in the days of old, we too now live in momentous times because we are living on the threshold of God’s mighty move in our generation. The clarion call of heaven to a Church that is apparently asleep in the light of God’s favour remains “Why do you sleep? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” We need to be wide awake to the spiritual realities around us, and avail ourselves of whatever opportunities we have, while avoiding the dangers entailed in God’s move. We need to understand that Satan will not just sit still and watch us decimate his kingdom without putting up a fight. We need to pray, as Jesus taught “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”, so that we can be protected from Satan’s expected backlash and pain, which God never intended for us to suffer.
As Christ’s body on earth, we need to understand that a great door of opportunity is open before us and that fervent prayer, which makes a lot of power available, is the only key to keeping that door open. It will also allow us to enter through the wide open door and take the spiritual strongman captive before we can release His captives to enjoy the kingdom freedom that Jesus came to give. So, what are you still doing? Are you still sleeping? Come on, wake up and pray. Pray as if your life depended on it, for it just might. Save yourself future angst by praying today, for while God will support you through the trying period that will occur even if you refuse to pray, that is however not His plan for you. Fasting helps to keep you spiritually light as opposed to being weighed down. So fast and pray today and your future will be well.
Prayer:
Father, how I often long to pray, but the spirit is willing and the flesh weak. Stir up and strengthen me in the inner man today so that I can sow in fasting and prayer today so that future Satan-instigated crisis will become opportunities to glorify you. Amen.