Mark 14:32-52

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38, NKJV)

As Jesus neared the cross, the spiritual warfare increased immensely. So much was at stake. When Jesus overcame temptation in the wilderness, the devil departed from Him until an opportune time (Luke 4:13). I believe this was the moment he was waiting for.

Jesus entered Gethsemane, a word that means “olive press.” And He was under enormous spiritual pressure. He told His disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” Then He took Peter, James, and John a little further and began to be troubled and deeply distressed. He told them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” Try to imagine the weight Jesus was carrying knowing that the eternal destiny of all humanity was at stake. Jesus told them to “watch,” meaning to stay alert, look, listen, and pray.

Often the Lord gets me up in the middle of the night to watch with Him. There is some trouble, distress, or concern, and Jesus wants me to intercede in prayer. But sometimes I am too quick to go back to bed or to raid the refrigerator, and I miss the opportunity to commune with Him.

While Jesus understood that He alone was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, I believe that He wanted to share His burden with His closest friends. But they were not there for Him. Three times He told them to “watch,” and three times they fell asleep.

The last time He singled out Peter and said, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. Peter needed all the spiritual power he could get for what was about to happen. His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak.

Doesn’t that describe all of us? A part of us wants to serve the Lord and sacrifice for Him, but the flesh is so weak. The good we want to do, we don’t do, and we compromise. But if we would win our spiritual battles, then we must be thoroughly equipped. We must be filled with the Spirit of power, love, and sound judgment, and this only comes by watching and praying.

Can we sit and watch with the Lord for one hour today? Does that seem too long? How about ten minutes?