144. One Hour

My heart is heavy tonight. We took communion at church and Pastor Harry spoke a really good message regarding the significance of Thursday night. We all know Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but Thursday, how often do we really think about it? As we were praying it hit me hard. “Could you not watch with me one hour?” 

These disciples spent time with the Lord. They saw the miracles, signs, wonders, healing left and right, the provision. They. Saw. So. Much. Yet they scattered that Thursday night. 

Jesus was praying, can you imagine that feeling of knowing the pain you would endure and laying down your life. “Could you not watch with me one hour?” 

Imagine that feeling, feeling that your friends have your back. They say they will follow you, and they couldn’t pray with you and watch for one hour. An hour where you’re praying hard, asking for this cup to pass. Yet His friends, disciples, the closest to Him, couldn’t pray with Him or on His behalf for one hour. 

Now think of your life. The life that the Lord died for. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever prayed for one hour? In all honesty, have YOU ever prayed for ONE HOUR straight? We are flawed, we need our savior, but we also have the willpower to put Him first in our lives. We choose to shove the Lord into a 20 min time slot on Sundays, say a 5 minute prayer before bed, and we wonder why we struggle. Why the Lord feels so far away? Why we don’t hear from the Lord? “Could you not watch with me one hour?” It’s a question to ask yourself. Can you give Him an hour? He’s given His life. It’s time we start acting like we are worth dying for. 

I encourage you to pray for one hour straight, as often as you can. That’s where relationship is formed. That’s where true healing takes place. That’s where He speaks. He’s worth it. Act like it. 

The disciples didn’t have the Holy Spirit, we do. We have all the help we need to defeat the temptation of the flesh. We just have to make the decision to go against the flesh and follow the Holy Spirit. We can be there for one hour, if we choose to be. 

Your friends won’t always be there, your family won’t either. Everything you think you’ll have for life, will be gone, one day, in a blink of an eye. If the Lords friends couldn’t stand with Him, what makes You think yours will stand with you? 

At one point, soon, we will all come to the realization that we are in this alone. It’s up to us to have our own relationship with the Lord. It’s up to us to watch with Him every hour of every day until His return. 

Matthew 26:36-45

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 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.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”