Jesus knew what was
coming. He knew what it would be like
for Him and for the disciples. He knew
that He was ready for what was about to happen, but the disciples weren't. They had yet to learn just how weak faith is
without God's help to make it strong.
Jesus knew that He
had to pray as well. Although He was
willing and ready to face the horrors of the cross, He had to overcome the
flesh's desire to avoid it. He was just
like us in that regard; He did not want to have to endure the sufferings of the
flesh He was about to go through. He had
to pray so that He would be strong enough in spirit to resist the temptation to
call for the angels of heaven to come and take Him home to heaven without the
cross.
We need to follow
Jesus' example. We need to pray much
that we might not be overcome by temptation.
Sometimes we know ahead of time the situation we will be in. We know that it will be very tempting for us
to let down our guard and participate in the sinful behavior that awaits
us. Our greatest need is to pray
beforehand. We can't expect God to help
us resist temptation when we don't pray and ask Him to before we encounter
it. Praying beforehand indicates the
true desire of our hearts to stay pure before God.
We dare not
overestimate our willpower. We, like the
disciples, are weak in faith when faced with overwhelming temptation. We, too, will stumble and fall without God's
help. The Spirit will give us the
willpower and strength to resist temptation if we ask Him to. Never take for granted what you can do; ask
the Lord to help you and you will live in victory.
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