Highlighting – “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Returning the third time, he said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.’” (v. 38 & 41)
This passage convicted me in many ways. How many times do you believe God has found you spiritually asleep? God calls us to be vigilant and prayerful, as the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Vigilant according to the Oxford dictionary means, “keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties”. We are in a time where we should be on high alert spiritually. Many prominent preachers in the faith are denouncing what they’ve always known about God and turning to false doctrine. Many people are accepting modern day practices simply because the world is accepting it and laws are changing to support those practices, meanwhile the Word of God speaks opposite and doesn’t change (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25). We are afraid of persecution, afraid of not being “loving”, so we sugarcoat what the Bible says. When true love is to help turn someone away from their sin.
This passage also spoke to me that you can’t ask anyone to go into spiritual warfare with you. Three times Jesus told the disciples to keep watch while He went off to pray, and every time He went back to check on them after prayer, they were sleeping. If the person is inclined to give up when the breakthrough doesn’t come immediately or lazy in spiritual combat, then they’re not the person you should run to for help in seeking God for deliverance. Ask God for discernment and revelation to know who to go to when you need help.
Lastly, this passage made me ask myself, how many times has God sought me out and found me asleep? Those times when God prompts you to get up and pray, to read your Bible instead of engaging in other activities, to share your testimony or the gospel with someone who may need to hear it, but you choose to ignore the prompting. Let us ask God to give us spiritual endurance, vigilance, strength, and desire to seek Him always and in all circumstances.
Dear Father, help me to be watchful and prayerful. Help me to be sensitive to Your Spirit and obedient to what You tell me to do. Help me to understand the importance in obeying Your promptings. Help me to share Your Word as it is, and not dull the truth of Your Word. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!
This might be helpful in getting me closer to better thoughts on what I sent on ig related to “black activists.” I feel the black struggle, and experience it throughout my life. Thus, when I get into debates on black history and how the Bible was used to persecute black men and women it does make me wonder if being spiritually woke actually help black men and women. It’s messed up for us out here and because of this I often wonder are they still using the Bible to control how we think/act? I love pastors who preach big on enterprise and who don’t just talk about being good Bible followers but also being great businessmen and professionals too. The word talks about those things and I want that to uplift black men and women around the world. I don’t want us to be people who are quiet in the word. I want economic spiritual communities especially for blacks. I want to be spiritually woke in every great way possible. Some people are spiritually sleep because they feel the word doesn’t give more to men and women of color in way that uplifts in the societies they are in.
People often manipulate the Word of God to suit their desires, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that it was used to suppress people of color. God gives believers His Spirit to better understand His Word through revelation and illumination. The more we read the Bible and submit to His Spirit, the more we’ll understand God’s will for us and the better we’ll fulfill His purpose for us to help our communities. Thank you for your comment. God bless you!