This reminds me of the disciples when they were praying in the garden with Jesus before His Crucifixion. Jesus had gone with His disciples to the Mount of Olives and in the garden He told His disciples, “Pray that you will not be overcome by temptation,” you can find this in Luke 22:40. Then in verse 46 after He was done praying Jesus found His disciples sleeping and said, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray otherwise temptation will overpower you.”
I know that many times we are just like the disciples. Our intentions are good but we do not follow through. We end up falling asleep instead of praying then when we fall into temptation we sometimes blame it on everyone else or our circumstances and it was nothing but our own fault! How many times have we fallen into temptation because of our lack of prayer? I have heard that, “The road to Hell is lined with good intentions!”
Question: do you spend time with the Lord every day or are you sleeping on your watch and falling into temptation and wondering why? If Jesus reprimanded His disciples for sleeping when they should have been praying, then it was very important and it is also very important to us. Why did He tell them to pray? Because He loved them and He knew without a prayerful life and without being prayed up they couldn’t overcome in their walk of faith. If you don’t pray it is like saying that you can make it on your own and you don’t need the Lord’s help. What is that called? Pride, and it will cause you to fall every time. The Bible says in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
I think this may have been Peter’s problem, read this very carefully I don’t want you to miss this! Jesus said to Peter very plainly in Luke 22:31–32 “Simon, Simon satan has asked to have all of you, to sift you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you Simon that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers.” What Jesus said to Peter seemed to just fly over his head. Satan wanted to destroy Peter completely but Jesus was praying for him, and what did Jesus pray for, that Peter’s faith would not fail. Jesus was telling Peter that He would fall into temptation and that he would also repent. How did Jesus get that discernment? He prayed and spent time with His heavenly Father! How do I know that Peter didn’t get it? Because of his next statement in verse 33 Peter said, “Lord I am ready to go to prison with you and even to die with you.” Peter didn’t think about what he was saying, he often seemed to stick his foot in his mouth, so to speak, and this was no exception. I think most everyone knows the rest of the story how Peter denied the Lord three times then went out and wept.
How many times have we acted like Peter? We read the Word but then when the temptation comes we fall into it because we haven’t been faithful to pray. Reading and knowing the scripture aren’t enough, we need to pray and ask the Lord to keep us from temptation and give us discernment in what we should do to avoid it. If you think you can live a life of faith without praying and spending time with the Lord regularly, you are just kidding yourself and you are also being deceived.
So if you are not doing these things, start doing them today and see how your life will become more fruitful and temptations will become less and less as time goes on. Praise God! Then you will be able to resist the devil and he will have to flee from you!! Have a great day and God bless you!
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