40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40-41)
Every good man or woman is one step away from utter ruin. Inside our hearts creeps a ghost of self destruction – a sin that leads us down all too familiar roads. Jesus is alive in us ripping our grasp on the idols we still incline our hearts to. Prayer is how we connect to the deconstruction of self and eliminate the urge to drive our lives into the ditch. The saint is torn between the sacred and the profane. Wanting so desperately to follow Christ with every fiber of being, but allowing the world to pollute and collapse these wishes.
This temptation is anything but new. It changes with each season of our life, growing in it’s cunning schemes. When Christ checks in on us, will He find us sleeping or diligently in prayer? This depends on our definition of strength. When it relies on us, the enemy will sift us as wheat (Luke 22:31). When it relies on God, we are given a new defense that builds our resolve into something the enemy fears. Like all our spiritual disciplines, this starts with uncharacteristic humility and a spiritual ambition.
I fear my drive for spiritual depth has been deluded. It is easy to settle into the slow fade of monotonous faith with our seeking something greater. It is in these days the supremacy of Christ is made real. Neither you or I can gain anything in our spiritual life without the miraculous intervention of the Spirit of God. We are to seek God over the means we use to get to Him. Sometimes a hallelujah takes the form of praise, but many times it’s a groan. This is not because we are defeated. On the contrary. We have seen victory and the world around us breaks our collective heart. The longing for more is caught between heaven and hell as we cling to desperate hope in a broken world. Christ reigns so we don’t have to.
Lord, save us from ourselves. Deliver us from temptation and find us in faith and not asleep. You alone are our hope and goal. Teach us Lord of your daily grace.
Matt simon blog 