"Keep watching and praying"

Matthew 26:14-46 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. ¹⁶ From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

¹⁷ Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸ And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” ¹⁹ The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰ Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. ²¹ As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” ²² Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³ And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. ²⁴ The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” ²⁵ And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²⁷ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰ After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ ³² But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ³³ But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” ³⁴ Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” ³⁵ Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

³⁶ Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. ³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

³⁹ And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” ⁴⁰ And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? ⁴¹ Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” ⁴³ Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. ⁴⁵ Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

“Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.”… “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.”     These were Jesus handpicked closest disciples. Yet among them was the one who would betray Him and He knew all of them would fall away. In John 15:16 Jesus says:  "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”    We too, like those first handpicked disciples, are chosen by God. We are chosen, not because God is unaware that we, like the disciples may fall away, we are chosen by God to fulfill His purposes, in spite of our weaknesses. Ephesians 1:3-4 says:    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

Jesus knew that the disciples were going to face difficult and trying times, times when their faith would be challenged.   His instruction and exhortation to them was:   “ Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jesus had asked that they would pray with Him. He was not far from them, they could hear His words, yet they themselves were unable to stand with Him. We too face difficult times, trials which challenge our faith. In the same way that Jesus encouraged the disciples, we too are encouraged to “keep watching and praying.” Just as Jesus was not far off from the disciples, He is also always near to us. Romans 8:34-39 says:  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.      

Jesus is never far off. He is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. When we heed His exhortation to keep watching and praying, we too are there with Him. Hebrews 4:16 says:    Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.      Indeed, as Paul says in Romans, nothing can separate us from the love of God. He knew our weakness and our failures before He chose us. He knew the trouble, the difficulties and trials we would face and He knows that we will struggle at times in our faith. Jesus encourages us, like the disciples, to keep watching and praying. The power of our prayers is not in our own abilities. The power of our prayers is not in our persuasive words. Jesus says:  

“when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. ⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:     ‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰ ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:7-13)      

The power of our prayer is that it puts us in the proximity of Jesus. We acknowledge that God the Father in  heaven and we join Jesus there, we are near to Him as He intercedes for us and with us. In the presence of Jesus and the Father, we no longer see from this earthly perspective. Just as Jesus knew the disciples would fall away yet He encouraged them to stay close to watch and pray, we too as we stay close watching and praying will see things from the heavenly perspective. We will know that nothing can separate us from the love of God, a love so great, a love as Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God is not concerned with our failures and our weakness. He was aware of all that before He chose us. Jesus says:   “ Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, that: nothing can separate me from the love of Christ! Not tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … But in all these things I overwhelmingly conquer through You who loves me.  I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. Hallowed be Your name.  ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.