When You Don't Pray...

(Matt 26:40). “What? Couldn’t you have watched with me for an hour?”

Jesus prayed earnestly at Gethsemane. Gethsemane was the place of Christ’s agonized prayer, Judas’ betrayal and Christ’s arrest. Jesus took the same inner circle – that was with Him at the Mount of Transfiguration – to the garden to pray with Him. He asked them to tarry at a certain place while He went away a little to pray with Peter, John, and Jacob (Matthew 26:39). He instructed to wait and pray, moved a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed.

There are several instructive features in our Savior’s prayer in his hour of trial:

·       It was a lonely prayer. He withdrew even from his three favored disciples.

·       It was a humble prayer. Luke says he knelt, but Matthew  says he "fell on his face." Humility gives us a good foot-hold in prayer. There is no hope of prevalence with God unless we abase ourselves that he may exalt us in due time.

·       It was filial prayer. "Abba, Father." You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject, you have forfeited them by your treason; but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's protection. Be not afraid to say, "My Father, hear my cry."

·       It was persevering prayer. He prayed three times. Cease not until you prevail. Continue in prayer.

·       Above everything,  it was the prayer of resignation. "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." Yield and God yields. Let it be as God wills, and God will determine what’s best for you. Leave your prayer in his hands, who knows when to give, and how to give, and what to give, and what to withhold. Pray in  His will.

Eventually, having known  His Father’s will, He took the “cup” from His Father’s hand and drained its ugly contents of earth’s sins to its last drop. Then He boldly proceeded to embrace the cross for which He was now ready.

But what happened to those who fell asleep while they should be praying?

What happens when you adopt a lax attitude toward discipline in your prayer life? The disciples (particularly Peter) learned it the hard way. The Lord had expressly commanded the men closest to Him to stay awake and pray, but they violated this command. In disappointed, anguished tone the Lord asked them “Couldn’t you have watched with me for an hour?”. The men He had brought with Him to stay with Him and strengthen Him, had let Him down, not once, but three times. Judas Iscariot was not the only one who had betrayed the Lord.   Consequences of their lax attitude with regard to prayer and their irresponsibility would soon become apparent:

[1] When His captors came looking for Him, Jesus came forward boldly and announced “I am He’ (John 18:4,5) but many other disciples who did not pray, fled the scene. Peter denied Him. He denied and lied. When we pray boldly like Jesus, the Holy Spirit fills us with courage. We can venture through any hard trials and overcome them. We will not be discouraged and defeated at times of trials, but boldly face the adversary and defeat him. (James 4:7) Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But if we fail to pray at the time we ought to, we will deny God, lie and try to escape, spiral downward and fall into sin.

[2] As Peter had not prayed when he ought to have, he was confused at the time of Jesus’ arrest and made a clumsy attempt to defend Jesus. He drew the sword and cut off a servant’s ear. Jesus took control of the situation, touched the injured man and healed him. If we sleep while we ought to be praying, we might mishandle those who oppose us, deny them God’s love and forgiveness, cut them with unkind words and action. Praying people would instinctively know to act level-headedly at the time of stress and hardship. They would avoid conflict even at times of violence, strive towards unity and peace, heal broken hearts and intercede on their behalf in the presence of God.

[3] Peter had forsaken everything to follow Jesus when the call came. He had sworn to follow Jesus into prison and even to death. But as he had neglected to pray during crucial moments, he had lost the courage and followed the cross from afar (Matt 26:58) If we are not a praying, we will also follow the cross from a distance, neither cold nor hot,  remain Christian in name only. If we strive in prayer, we would be able to maintain the fellowship with the Father and the saints in all situations. Jesus kept His fellowship with His Father during His severest trials even when the Father had momentarily hidden His face from Jesus, when Jesus  cried in agony “ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” – He was able to command His spirit into the hands of His Father and  give up His spirit.

[4] Peter sat (outside Caiaphas’ home) in order to find out the end of Jesus’ trial (Matt 26:58). He did not know anything about it, even though Jesus has spoken about it many times clearly. If he were a man of prayer, he would have known that the Messiah had to suffer and die. Had he been praying, Holy Spirit would have enlightened him, as regards to the outcome of the trial. Jesus who prayed was aware of everything that was going to happen to Him(John 18:4 ). He knew in advance what was coming and shared it with His disciples. (It is unfortunate that none of them remembered it, while the Pharisees and the high priest remembered. See Matthew 23:67). If we are a praying people, the Lord will show us beforehand the trials we would have to face. He will also teach us how to pray and how to conduct ourselves during trials and emerge victorious. If we fail to pray in time of need, we cannot be witnesses to the truth, zealous for Lord. We may end up denying Him.

[5] Jesus had expected His disciples to share His burden with Him in prayer. “What? Couldn’t you have watched with me for an hour?” he queried in anguish (Matt 26:40). As His primary disciple, the honor of helping his Master as He struggled to carry the cross up the mountain would have been  Peter’s, but he had not the preparedness and the honor fell upon an outsider,  Simon, the Cyrenean. Jesus bore the burden of His Father – the burden of the sin of mankind -- that mankind should be saved, should receive the Holy Spirit, should be sanctified, perfected and glorified. If we are a people who pray, we will be able to share the burden of the Lord, have a burden for the church, for the perishing souls, for the ministry.

A short while ago, Peter, James and John were going to burn up a Samaritan village because they thought they had slighted the Lord. But now Peter was chatting up the servant maids outside Caiaphas’ house while inside Jesus was being flogged, mocked, humiliated and had a crown of thorns pressed on His head in the name of a trial. Intense prayer is the only antidote for the fickleness of human nature.

We read much about the prayer life of Jesus from Luke’s gospel. He often went to a solitary place, to a mountain, to the desert to pray. He continued all night in prayers. (Luke 5:3,16; 6:12; 9:28) Jesus has set us an example of an active prayer life. Prayer must be not just an activity, but an attitude.  ^{Stay alert} at all times. The Lord has instructed us ‘’Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man"(Luke 21:36)

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