Today’s Bible readings are Judges 4:1-5:31, Luke 22:35-53, Psalm 94:1-23, & Proverbs 14:3-4
Luke 22:41-42
41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and
prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of
suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
This was one of the most trying times in the disciple’s
lives. They were under tremendous spiritual pressure. Jesus had just told them
that one of them would betray Him. They were being pressed by the authorities.
There was an unseen pressure from the spirit realm that was trying to crush
them & Jesus. Not to mention the fact that they were physically exhausted.
They had been very active in ministry & now they were very worn out. Satan
was beginning to put his plan in motion to destroy Jesus & the His
followers.
Jesus sensed the things that we are talking about but the
disciples did not. It is interesting to me that we are sometimes unaware of the
spiritual battles around us. We can be clueless of these battles. We can feel
the weight & the pressure but are unaware that it is a spiritual thing. We
try to fight it through natural means but a spiritual battle can only be won
through spiritual efforts.
Jesus showed us the way to win spiritual battles—PRAY!!! As
he walked away a stone’s throw, the disciples fell to sleep. This can represent
the way that many people try to fight spiritual fights. They think that sleep
can solve it. This is trying to fight a spiritual fight through natural means.
They felt the pressure. They felt the weight. They resolved to sleep, while
Jesus resolved to pray.
The end result is what we want to pay the most attention to.
Jesus won the battle while the disciples lost. They walked away from Him. They caved
in when the pressure became too great. They ran & hid when things got
difficult.
The main reason the disciples lost this battle was because
they didn’t fight it through spiritual means. Jesus won the battle because He
fought it through spiritual efforts. He never bent under the pressure of the
enemy because He was prayed up.
Which of these do you want to see in your life? Do you want
to have strength to endure? Do you want to have power to rise above the violent
attacks of satan? Do you want to win the spiritual battles in your life?
Then here is the answer—Be a person of prayer!!! When
everybody else is trying to handle things through natural means, withdraw about
a stone’s throw to the place of prayer. You too will see that prayer is
powerful & mighty to the pulling down of strongholds!
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