keep...

“Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”                                                                                            

Mark 14.37b, 38

These words are particularly significant to me. I wonder if this might be because they were originally addressed to Simon, called Peter. I often feel in touch with what Peter experienced and said.

I am challenged by Jesus’ words – to me:

         Could you not keep watch for one hour?

I feel that Jesus is calling me to come closer. Yes, this is a request to alert and focused prayer, but it is also an invitation to go deeper into my Lord, to allow myself to be drawn further into intimacy with Him.

Jesus is beckoning me. There are many distractions. The body is weak. Jesus is encouraging me to be focused on Him. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts me to fix my eyes on Jesus. This is my calling and my being. I am who I am in Him. There is no other way. My spirit cries out for this. I must overcome the temptations of the flesh and give myself to Him. And do this, not for just one hour, but for all of my life, and then beyond.

Lord Jesus,

I thank You for this timely reminder that I must fight the temptations of the flesh and give my all to You. I’m sorry for my erring. I ask Your forgiveness.

I give myself to You, not just for one hour but for all time. I pray that You would increase the hope in my spirit and lead me to overcome, in You, the weaknesses of the body.

I need You, Lord. I cry out to You in my weakness and unbelief. Help me. Heal me. Mould me that I might become more Christ-like.

Receive me now, Lord, in surrender to You. I thank You for the lessons You show me through the experiences of others. Teach me by these lessons, in Your precious name I ask.             Amen.