My attitude toward God is often one of asking him to do something for me, or to do something for someone else. Indeed, God wants us to pray for ourselves and others. He wants us to make the desires of our hearts known to him.
And yet there are times when I fail to act when God asks something of me. Now, it is true that it is not always easy to know when God is asking something of me. Is it God speaking? Is it a trap set by Satan to tempt me away from God’s true intention? Is this my own selfish desires? But sometimes I analyze too much and act too little.
Other times, what He is asking takes effort. To be honest, the effort is more than I am willing to give. Oh, how that hurts to realize its truth.
In Gethsemane, Jesus asks Peter, James and John to do something. He asks them to pray. Jesus is clear in his request. However, to pray they must stay awake. They fail.
“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” Matthew 26:36-37
“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’” Matthew 26:40-41
Jesus goes away to pray and comes back to find them again sleeping.
Peter, James and John loved Jesus. Why could they not do what Jesus asked of them? I do not know.
Dear Lord, I love you and want to please you. When you ask something of me, I want to be willing to act. I am weak. My spirit is willing but my body is weak. I need you to overcome my weakness. You are able. Thank you for going through the agony of Gethsemane and paying the price for my salvation. Amen.
Diona
Sixty-six books in a year 