Watch And Pray

To understand the meaning of the phrase ‘Watch and Pray’, let us look at Matthew 26:36-46 where Jesus used this phrase. In the context of this scripture, in this situation where Jesus instructed His disciples to ‘Watch and Pray’, what He meant was:

• Stay awake and pray with me.

• Don’t sleep, be alert, and stay in the place of prayer.

• Don’t let sleep, sorrow (Luke 22:45) or any situation keep you from praying.

Today, as God’s Word goes forth, God will release the spirit of grace and supplication (Zechariah 12:10); the divine enablement to pray without ceasing on every one of us. The Holy Spirit, our Helper in the place of prayer will take over every weakness in our prayer life and set us free from everything that keeps us from praying fervently and consistently (Romans 8:26).

In the Gethsemane Prayer Experience recorded in Matthew 26:36-46, the Bible reveals 5 fundamentals of Prayer; 5 important things about watching and praying which we want to examine in this message.

1. It is a privilege and an honour for God give you an opportunity to watch and pray.

In Matthew 26:36-37, Jesus took all His disciples to Gethsemane, but when it was time to pray, He selected only three disciples to join Him in praying. Why did Jesus pick Peter, James and John to pray with Him? Was it because they were the most righteous and dedicated disciples? Certainly not! In Matthew 26:34 just before Jesus went with His disciples to Gethsemane, Jesus rightly pointed out that before the roster crows, Peter would deny Him three times that night. So if it was a choice based on righteousness, a choice based on it is only the person that has clean hands and a pure heart that can ascend into the hill of the Lord or stand in His holy place (Psalm 24:3-4), Peter had no business being picked. Was it then because Peter, James and John were the most powerful in prayer that Jesus chose them to join Him in praying? NO! As our text shows that at the time it mattered most, they were sleeping instead of praying. These three men were chosen by grace, not because they deserved it, not because they were the very best when it comes to prayer. When Jesus called them to come and pray with Him, they were given a special privilege and honour. It is a privilege and an honour for a Holy, perfect, sinless God to give us a platform where we can commune with Him, fellowship with Him, talk one on one with Him in spite of our flaws, weaknesses and shortcomings. This is the mindset we should have towards prayer. This is how we should view prayer. Our perspective to prayer should be it is an honour and a special blessing that out of the billions of people on this earth, God wants to hear my own voice on a daily basis. Our attitude to prayer should be I am not the most righteous and dedicated person, I am not the best when it comes to prayer, yet God is so mindful of me; so mindful of my situation, my needs, what I am going through that He has given me an access door through prayer to come before Him and receive mercy and find grace to help me anytime I am in need (Psalm 8:4, Hebrews 4:16).

Prayer is a privilege and an honour because in the place of prayer, God reveals deep secrets; God tells you things He doesn’t tell everyone (Jeremiah 33:3). In Matthew 26:38, Jesus opened up to Peter, James and John about what He was going through. He told these three disciples something about Himself, something about His situation that the other disciples didn’t get to hear about or know about. He said to them “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me”.

Rather than see prayer as an obligation, a chore, or a bore, which many people do, we should be excited about any opportunity our Heavenly Father gives us to commune with Him in prayer. We should be thankful and appreciative of the grace God has extended to us and bestowed on us to come before Him and discuss with Him. We should be full of awe that even though we are far from being perfect, even though God’s understanding and wisdom is far above us, He wants to have daily conversations with us. We should be eager and excited about prayer knowing that deep and hidden things, which other people don’t get to know about will be revealed to us as we fellowship with God in the place of prayer.

2. Watch and Pray is what you do when you are at your weakest point, when you are at your darkest hour