Prayer Gives You the Strength to Perform

Despite Jesus' pre-eminence, despite him being withwith me.
God in all his glory before all this took place, despiteNow this is such a terrible time and here is Jesus
knowing full well he'd be risen from the dead and stillconfiding this information. Look my soul is sorrowful I'm
have that glory again. He could not face these thingsclose to death.
without PRAYER.Watch and pray
It was PRAYER that gave him the strength toMatthew 26:39
perform his duty in the Lord. It's exactly the same forAnd he went a little further, and fell on his face, and
you and I - we are going to be found wanting - unlessprayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this
we are committing ourselves to the Lord in prayer.cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as
Matthew 26:36-37thou [wilt]. And he cometh unto the disciples, and
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place calledfindeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could
Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here,ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that
while I go and pray yonder. And he took with himye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing,
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to bebut the flesh [is] weak.
sorrowful and very heavy.And this is a BIG scripture for you and I to take home
I suppose we should set the background scene a bit.today. WATCH and PRAY, that ye enter not into
They'd been busy... they all had extremely busy daystemptation. You can turn that around and say if you're
leading up to this. They had just shared the last suppernot watching and your not praying you will fall, you will
and we read this scripture and think to ourselves whysuffer, you will do it tough because of temptation.
couldn't they watch with the Lord instead of falling toTemptations are going to come upon you that you
sleep.can't handle. WATCH and PRAY so that you don't
They would have been dead tired. I'm sure we've allenter into the temptation. Temptation is going to come,
been there and know what it's like when you areand if you're watching and you're praying you will be
absolutely dead tired. So when you're that tired it isable to overcome things, you're going to be able to
extremely difficult to stay awake, especially when youconquer things.
sit down. While you're walking about it's okay but asBut if you're not praying you are in danger of entering
soon as you sit down you're gone.into the temptation. We want to avoid these things
Well here Jesus disciples would have been feeling likedon't we? Then be praying.
that. They've had such a busy time of it and theyI know in my life and I know in everyone else's life that
would have found it so hard to stay awake.when we are not praying difficulties become too hard
Matthew 26:38to handle. Learn from experience.
Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceedingDon't neglect your prayer life!
sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch