WATCH AND PRAY
“Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."(Matthew 26:40-41)
Jesus instructed his disciples, “Watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation. But they did not watch, they did not pray, and, therefore, they fell. In their defeat, they denied the Lord Jesus and fled as he was facing his greatest trial. He prayed throughout the time in the Garden of Gethsemane, while the disciples were sleeping. He was tired but chose to pray. Jesus knew that “the end of His work (or life) is near. Therefore, He needs to remain clear-minded and self-controlled, so that He can pray.” No wonder He was able to remain calm and composed throughout the trials. No wonder He has the strength and courage to face the cross and finish the job He needs to do.
The secret of victory over sin and the devil is to watch and pray. When we do not do this, we become frustrated, defeated, and angry. We speak unwisely and do not shine as light in the world.
The reason Satan is so effective at influencing humans to sin is that humans are generally unsuspecting of Satan’s attacks.
• Those attacks come from an invisible enemy who seems to be nonexistent.
• Those attacks are subtle and come in the form of ideas, impulses, suggestions and moods that are not easily distinguishable from human or environmental sources.
• Those attacks come in the form of baited hooks that focus our attention on the lure and blind us to the concealed hook.
It is a war game of distraction—trying to take our focus away from doing what God commands. The antidote to all of this effort by Satan is to watch and pray, to be aware of his attacks so that we can be ready to resist with the Word of God and the power of God. We must monitor and anticipate these influences to sin and be ready to say no to them and yes to God’s instruction.
DOWNLOAD A FREE PDF COPY OF THIS SERMON – https://mountzionblog.org/watch-and-pray/
WATCHING means sleeplessness. It means to be awake and aware of surrounding realities. In the Scriptures it means to be spiritually alert, having a mind that is renewed by divine realities. Sleep is for the people at night. In the world we are living in gross darkness. There is gross darkness, and people are sleeping but the glory of the Lord arises upon God's people. His light shall be noticed in the darkness. God’s people are not asleep in the night of this world’s darkness. They can see what is happening in front of them with the harmony of what God is saying.
What does it mean to sleep? It means to be unaware of surrounding circumstances. It means spiritually unaware of the creeping compromise. Unaware of the insidious little things that will take us off our guard. We will become unaware of the specifics of our time. The specifics that were written, we will suddenly discover, too late. We will be bewildered and unprepared. The temptations are great, the distractions are many. Unless you are praying regularly, you will find it hard to stay faithful to God.
What are we doing if we are not sleeping? We are very active in the revelations of God’s word so that we don’t reject the offers of mercy. We are watching for the Lord by purifying our hearts by obedience to the truth. If you are going to be obedient to the truth, we must take it and not forget it. I have seen too much forgetfulness. People say, that was a wonderful message but if you ask them what the message about 2 was or 3 weeks later, they have forgotten. Why? They were sleeping why they were listening to it.
1. A watchful person opens his spiritual eyes to enable him pray appropriately. It is about what you see that should make you pray. If you can’t see in the spirit then don’t pray because prayer must be according to what you have experienced in the Spirit. That is the reason why most people are not prayerful.
2. A watching person is one who repents of his sins and obeys God. He is careful in his life and sets his affections on things above, not on things of the earth, which is passing away. (Colossians 3:1-4).
3. A watchful person is spiritually alert and very aware that sin still dwells in him. He knows that Jesus Christ defeated Satan by his death on the cross, but he is also aware that Satan and his demons are still given freedom to rule and tempt all believers. The watching person is aware that Satan, the enemy of his soul, is constantly prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour every believer, if possible.
4. A watching person also knows from the word of God that this world is not abiding but will pass away. Thus, he knows it is foolish to trust in this world and its intoxicating attractions. “What does it profit if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?”
5. A watchful person realizes that he can die at any moment and slip into eternity.
6. A watchful person is one who has been to heavenly places and seen the Lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne and heard the song of glorious worship in which men and angels proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
7. The watching person is spiritually prepared to deal with the evil forces of this world. He understands that not only is there a God, but there is a devil seeking to devour him. The watching person also understands that as a Christian he is engaged in a continual struggle.
8. A watching person understands God’s truth and is therefore able to detect and reject heresies in the church (Acts 20:30-31).So be on your guard!”
9. A watchful person rejects the wisdom of this world. He knows it is foolishness because it denies the ultimate reality of God, the author of creation and ruler of all. He knows that it denies the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
10. A watchful person is guided by the knowledge of God. Such a person abides in the word of God.
Why do people fall into the same sin again and again? Because they do not watch and pray. They think they can operate in their arrogance and self-sufficiency, but the devil is stronger than their self-sufficiency. The prayer of a watching person is always effectual because God gives us his grace to deal with every situation. This weapon of prayer is mightier than all the weapons of hell. In fact, the devil trembles whenever a Christian is on his knees
When we watch and pray, we will triumph! We will not fall into temptation or be knocked down, swallowed up, or blown away. God wants us to live resurrection life in Christ.
Prayer alone will not avail. To pray and not to watch is presumption. You pretend to trust in God, and yet you are throwing yourself into danger. If you pray to be kept, then be watchful. Prayer without watchfulness is hypocrisy. Prayer without watching is not sufficient to preserve us from evil.
Watching without praying is equally futile. To say, “I will keep myself right,” and never pray to God to keep you, is self-confidence, which must lead to evil. It is only by praying and watching that you will be able to keep on your guard. Besides, watching grows wearisome without prayer, and we soon give it up, unless we have a sweet interlude of prayer to give us rest, and to help us to continue watching.
Prayer will call out the watchman, prayer will incite him to keep his eyes open, prayer will be the food to sustain him during the night, and prayer will be the fire to warn him.
Watching will help prayer, for watching proves prayer to be true. Watching excites prayer, for every enemy we see will move us to pray more earnestly. Moreover, watching is prayer. If there be true watching, the watching itself is prayer. The two blend the one into the other.
If we do not want to fell apart and fell away, then we need to watch and pray.
Watch and pray today and always. It will be a continual struggle because your sinful flesh wants your faith to fall asleep. But through the word and help from the Holy Spirit to strengthen your spirit to watch and pray.
Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6-8).
“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers.”
To God be the Glory.
James Dina
james@mountzionblog.org
22nd July 2020
https://mountzionblog.org/watch-and-pray/
(In my research for this sermon, I used CHARLES SPURGEON's outline from his sermon "The Two Guards, Praying and Watching" preached on July 24, 1890).
