Stay Awake and Pray

 Many Christians can't figure out why they are living defeated lives. They are constantly tempted and overcome by Satan, the world, and the flesh. It seems that whatever they try to do, they fail. Then, the devil comes to accuse them. He tells them they are too weak to ever live the Christian life, so they should just give up. I am afraid many believers take his advice. They just go to sleep spiritually, and they cease praying. That is the formula for a miserable life, even though they are saved. They know what to do, but they are unable to do it. Jesus showed His disciples how to be victorious when they were with Him at Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:41) He admonished them to "stay awake and pray." The result would be they would not enter temptation. This was true because their spirit was willing to do the right thing, but their flesh was weak, so they would give in and sin. We need to heed this admonition of our Lord in our own situation today.

When we stay awake in our life, we are staying alert to what is going on around us. We are taking life seriously, because we realize Satan, the world, and the flesh are against us all of the time. We know we can't defeat them on our own. Therefore, we "pray without ceasing." We are constantly praying to the Father in Jesus' name, so we receive His help and the power of the Spirit to overcome any temptation that comes. We have to do it this way, because our spirit is willing, but just wanting to do the right thing is not enough. The flesh is too strong for us. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that our spirit can overcome the fleshly desires to do the wrong thing. In effect, Jesus was telling us to "walk in the Spirit" so that we will never fulfill the desires of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16) That is His promise to us, if we stay awake and pray, we will live the victorious Christian life. I pray we, as Christians, will all heed this admonition from our Lord.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 27-28 and Mark 1.