Tough Hour of Prayer
Mark 14:37 – Then he came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake for one hour? 38 – Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Did they eat too much at the last supper? Was that foot massage from Jesus too relaxing? Or did they think that since Jesus was talking with His Father like He did so often before, things would be okay? It seemed as though a perfect storm of conditions brought about a terrible lethargy towards the urgency of prayer. Is it possible that we can relate?
What happens when we kneel down to pray and we don’t know what to say? At first I didn’t have an answer to that question and then it hit me – read the lines!!! What I mean is: read the Bible! Too often we shut down when we run out of things to say. Let the Bible be our source material.
How about praying with your eyes open? – since the body likes to associate closing the eyes with sleeping. When the tough hours of prayer come and we need to stay awake let’s keep our Bibles and our eyes open. The fight against the flesh is tough – but the Holy Spirit is willing to tough it out with us!
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. and he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will. And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,… – Romans 8:26-28.
Where two are gathered 