41 When He returned to them the third time, He said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But no—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!” ~ Mark 14:41-42NLT
The last night of Jesus’ life was very stressful for Him. He was overwhelmed with the immense pressure laid upon Him to the point that His sweat became like drops of blood. Jesus, being a man as He set off His Godliness to take on our mortal form, asked His disciples to pray with Him. He needed help praying. Why? Because a three-strand cord is not easily broken. One may put a thousand to flight, but two may put ten thousand to flight.
But His disciples were overcome with sleep and couldn’t keep their eyes open. Jesus’ response was very different than the meme that tries to paint God as happy we fall asleep while praying because it’s like falling asleep in your grandfather’s arms.
God isn’t our grandfather. He’s our Heavenly Father. And just as our earthly fathers expect more out of us than our grandfathers, so does God expect more out of us. Jesus asked if they couldn’t pray with Him for one hour. That was the bare minimum Jesus was asking for, just one hour. When they fell asleep, Jesus said it was because their flesh was weak. This is why Paul puts a lot of emphasis on putting your flesh into subjection and building up your spirit man.
The last time Jesus went to the disciples, He left them sleeping until the hour of trial had come. He didn’t wake them up to pray with Him. This is a very frightening thought when we put it into perspective. When we pray, and we fall asleep, God wakes us up. He tries to get our attention; sometimes, He even wakes us up at all hours of the morning trying to get us to pray, but if we refuse to stay awake. If we refuse to put our flesh in check, then God will leave us where we lie. He won’t wake us up to pray anymore. And in doing so, we will miss our opportunity to prepare for the coming trial that awaits us.
All of the disciples left Jesus when He was arrested after that. Peter denied Him before the rooster crowed that morning. They were unprepared for the coming tests and trials because of the lack of prayer. When God wakes you up, it’s not for no reason. God is waking you up to strengthen your don’t miss out on your spiritual workout.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Strengthen The Spirit.
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