WEEK 8:  DEVOTIONAL ON PRAYER

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Matthew 26:41

Prayer must be the first thing. It is the first step to victory over temptation. They were to pray before they walked by the cliff of temptation. Prayer is truly the preventative medicine of the soul. It can prevent one from the effects of the sickness of sin that takes place when one falls into temptation.

Prayer can avoid many falls in the life of the follower of Jesus.  It is the prerequisite for victory. Someone said it this way, “It is good to pray for the repair of mistakes, but praying earlier would keep us from making so many.  When puzzled, go to prayer and listen.”  To pray for victory at the beginning of the day can keep you from failures during the day.

The words, “watch and pray” are present imperatives emphasizing continuing action. They are lifestyle elements for the follower of Jesus. Temptation is a constant danger and a reality of life for the follower of Jesus. To always be watching and praying is to take temptation serious enough to do something about it. Thomas A Kempis said, “Temptations discover what we are.” I do believe that temptations do reveal, if we are watching and praying.  Temptations expose the real condition of the soul. 

It seems these followers of Jesus had a half-hearted commitment to prayer and watching. The flesh designates independence from God. They allowed their flesh to get in the way of victory. Only through prayer would they have found victory over their flesh through dependence on His Spirit and power.

They missed their opportunity. Here lies a tragedy of unoffered prayer. There is a cost to failure to pray and watch. Failure to watch and pray can result in unpreparedness for the opportunities ahead of us. They missed out on divine power and intervention in the midst of great trials and testing.  This passage does not imply that by watching and praying, we can evade all situations of temptation and difficulty.  However, it does teach us that we are to ask for divine help that we may resist temptation when put to the test.