Good morning. As Jesus approached the horrible moments of His arrest, which would soon be followed by His torture, and then by His crucifixion, and then by His acceptance of our sin, and then by His death, Jesus had asked His disciples to keep a prayer vigil with Him. It seems like not too much to ask. They were His disciples, but also His friends, and they called Him “Lord”. He asked them, but when Jesus returned to His disciples this is what we read: Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour?Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:37-38
I once read that these words of Jesus were like, “An arrow whose point is tipped with wounded love.”
The request seems quite modest, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t it have been worth it to them to push aside the urge to sleep for an hour or two to lift Jesus up in prayer before the throne of God?
It is hard for us to feel sympathy towards them for such a failure, right?
How often has Jesus expressed a request to you to pray for a specific need? Please know that when He makes such a request it is through the ordinary people in your life. It could be a relative, or it could be a co-worker, or it could be a friend or neighbor. It could be almost anyone who knows that you are a person of faith and a person who claims a prayer life.
But do you always follow through? Do you ever say, “of course I will pray for you!” only to be a little too busy, or perhaps you forgot, or perhaps you put it off until a better time which never quite arrived?
Please, when someone asks for prayer, and when you say “Yes, I will pray for you”, please, follow through and pray. Realize that this is the voice of Jesus whispering to you, “Please, pray”.
Please understand as well that Jesus’ expectation of those disciples was not that they would hurriedly whisper a few words of prayer. No, His expectation was that they would labor in prayer, that they would join Him in fervent and heartfelt prayer.
Please, pray.
Vern