Watch And Pray - Jesus And Peter

[Jesus] returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Mark 14:37-38

In his younger days of working as a door-to-door salesman, Alfred C. Fuller, founder of the Fuller Brush Company, called upon a woman who invited him into her home with the words, “Lead me not into temptation.” Without missing a beat, Fuller replied, “Madam, I am not leading you into temptation but delivering you from evil!”

He sold the woman three brushes that day.

Peter, James, and John—Jesus’ three closest friends during his earthly ministry—once spent a night in the devil’s crosshairs. They were in very real danger of giving in to the worst temptation—and they didn’t even know it.

Jesus invited these three to wait with him in the garden of Gethsemane. He instructed them to keep watch and pray. “So that you will not give in to temptation,” he said. “For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Jesus knew these three men intimately, so he knew their weaknesses. He also knew that they were about to endure a terrible morning that would fulfill centuries-old prophecies concerning his arrest, trial, and death.

Jesus had told his disciples earlier that evening that they would all abandon him in his hour of need. Peter proudly proclaimed that he would never leave Jesus’ side no matter what happened.

As Jesus prayed in the garden that night, Peter fell fast asleep. The man who felt so sure that he would stand up to whatever came his way neglected to keep watch and pray, thus leaving himself defenseless against the coming temptation.

Peter wanted more than anything to stand by Jesus that evening, but at the moment of truth, the big fisherman failed Jesus miserably because he relied on his own strength and courage. He forgot that real power comes from watching and praying as Jesus instructed.

No one can completely avoid temptations to sin, but when you remain prayerfully on the alert for those temptations, God can give you the strength and wisdom you need to enjoy victory even when the devil throws his worst at you.