Matthew 26:36-45

“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.””

It’s easy to cruise through life parroting the iconic phrase from the first LEGO movie, “Everything is awesome”. Sometimes, everything is awesome. That is, of course, until it isn’t. 

Unlike some of our idealistic views of reality, Jesus knows that eventually all of us will be “caught out” by temptation. Like us, three of Jesus’ closest companions, Peter, James and John, got completely caught out the night their leader was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane.

While Jesus prayed for the strength to submit to his unjust arrest and death, they slept. While Jesus knew what was coming, his followers didn’t. Despite having told them trials were coming, they may have thought, “Everything is awesome. Jesus is on our side and he is winning. We’re unstoppable!” Yet Jesus knew that literally overnight one of His most ardent supporters, Peter, would – in moments of fleshly self-preservation – deny that he even knew who Jesus was!

Like Peter, James and John, we need to be alert to the reality that our strength of spirit and bold intentions (“everything is awesome”!) can be exactly what blinds us to just how weak our flesh is. 

If we can grasp this reality, we can see that Jesus wasn’t just preparing Himself for the path ahead, but modelling the way for those who would follow Him. He both “called out” their weaknesses and simultaneously modelled the solution – passionate, pre-emptive prayer.

When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray in chapter 6 of Matthew (“teach us to pray Lord”), they likely wanted to know the secrets of praying like Jesus. They wanted access to the privilege of talking with God in the intimate and powerful way Jesus did. It would have appeared to be a new level of spiritual life – one they all wanted access to. 

However, it seems that in the garden on that fateful night, Jesus revealed to them that it’s not just a spiritual privilege to pray, it’s a personal, physical necessity. When your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak, Jesus says you need to pray. This prayer is not just to avoid temptation, but to overcome the flesh in order to continue to follow Jesus wherever he leads.

Like Jesus and his disciples, what’s at stake is our purpose. To complete his purpose on earth, Jesus needed to pray. To overcome the temptation to give up on your purpose,  you need to pray in order to overcome the weakness of your flesh and live the full life Jesus has called you to!