READ: Mark 14:32-50 LISTEN: Mark 14

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:38

After announcing their eventual fall, Jesus instructs his disciples to watch and pray with him. Each time Jesus returns to his disciples, though, he finds them sleeping on the job. Rather than being vigilant and alert, they are sleepy and unaware. The disciples remain ignorant of what is coming. As a result, when the moment of temptation comes, they each fall away and desert Jesus, just as he had predicted. Their failure to pray in the garden would lead to their eventual failure to stay faithful to Jesus.

Keeping watch and praying are essential practices for guarding our spiritual health. Jesus calls us today to watch and pray so we will not fall to temptation. The disciples fled when facing the consequences of following Jesus, and we might be tempted to do likewise. We may be tempted to flee when forgiving someone is hard. Or we may be tempted to give in when our faith is considered bigoted or narrow-minded. Or we may be tempted to retreat in fear when given an opportunity to share the gospel. All of us will be faced with challenges along the road of following Jesus. Therefore, we must always watch and pray to stay faithful to Jesus.

TODAY: Commit to spiritual vigilance through prayer. Prayer is a primary means God has given us to humbly ask for his help—especially when life is hard and your energy is low. Use Jesus’s prayer as a model to ask God for help to stay faithful to him in challenges. “Abba Father, everything is possible for you, including ________…Yet not what I will, but what you will. Help me stay faithful to you.”