Watch and Pray

“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.  For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

Matthew 26:41 (NLT)

Temptation has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.  Just when you think you are doing pretty well in your faith journey, out of nowhere comes the lure of temptation.  It’s cleverly disguised; and before you know it, you’ve taken the bait.  We’ve all been there.  The real question is: How can we overcome it?  We must learn to watch and pray.

In Matthew 26, Jesus taught His disciples a valuable lesson on overcoming temptation when He took His disciples with Him to an olive grove called Gethsemane to pray just before facing the cross. Jesus used their drowsiness to warn them about the kinds of temptations they would soon face.  That very night He would face perhaps His most intense temptation as Son of Man.  Would He drink the cup of suffering before Him? That night, He would be betrayed and handed over to the religious leaders to be tried and crucified the next day.  Each one of these disciples would face the temptation to desert Him.   

Jesus said that to overcome temptation we must watch - keep alert and pray.  Staying alert means being aware of the possibilities of temptation.  “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”  Prayer heightens our alertness and gives us the spiritual strength we need to resist it.  Prayer connects us with God and enables us to detect areas of weakness that would otherwise ensnare us.  If you want to defeat Satan’s scheme to deceive you, stay alert, keep watch and pray.