A Praying Life
Did Jesus ever struggle with the flesh? Did his closest disciples, Peter, James, and John ever struggle with the flesh? Do you struggle with the flesh? God in His kindness reveals the struggle that all men face in the flesh. In Mark 14:32-42, we see that Jesus is fully God and fully Man. He is a perfect spiritual being, living sinlessly, living out God’s perfect will and doing it within the reality of His flesh. It’s incredibly comforting to know that we have a Savior who understands what it means to struggle against the flesh.
Jesus starts this passage by asking Peter, James and John to sit and pray. Jesus is feeling the weight of the sin of the world and is aware of the/his impending suffering. “And he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.’” Why does he ask them to watch and pray? Does he need them to protect him or to sustain him in any way? I don’t think so: He is the perfect son of God and has everything he needs from his Father. He invites his friends to commune and seek the Father in the midst of their chaos, confusion, and uncertainty.
Later, he goes even further by "going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’” Why would Jesus struggle? He is the perfect son of God. He is sinless. His spirit and will were 100% committed to God’s perfect will and unwavering…but he was embodied in flesh, limited by his physical body. The flesh doesn’t like to suffer. It craves comfort and will fight to maintain it. It likes to sleep in, overeat, and avoid any kind of pain. God in his kindness lets us know that He knows what it means to suffer and experience sorrow. He understands what it is like to have your flesh tell you, “The task is impossible.”
The passage goes on to read, “And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” The disciples fell asleep. They could not fully comprehend what was to come even though Jesus had warned them over and over of his betrayal and his impending death. He had recently warned Peter that he would deny Christ.
“And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?’” The disciples failed him three times in perfect symmetry to Peter’s later denial of Christ.
How often do we fight the flesh? How often are we too busy, too distracted, or too tired to spend time watching, praying, and preparing for the spiritual battles that happen on a daily basis? How often are we not ready for the spiritual battle that faces us because we have preemptively chosen comfort of the flesh over communion with our Father?
How often do we fail to recognize a spiritual battle until the moment has passed? In these critical moments Peter, James, and John chose to be comfortable. We can relate to their weakness because we too share the same weakness. We can relate to their inability to anticipate the battle ahead because we too are oblivious to the battles facing us. Peter, who was later known as the Rock that Christ built the church, was guilty of sleeping when he should be praying. That later led to giving in to the temptation of survival by denying anything to do with Christ.
The Christian walk is full of ups and downs. We will fail to pray when we should. We will fail to be ready for spiritual battles. In short, we fail to abide in Christ. Rather than be discouraged in our weakness, let us put our hope in the one who saves, in the one whose steadfast love pursues, in the one who overcomes all things: King Jesus. Let us constantly pray to him that he would sustain us and prepare us for the battles that come so we might continuously abide in him. When we fail, let us not be trapped by our failures, but let us use this moment to awaken us to the spiritual battles we may have spiritually fallen asleep to. Run to Jesus in prayer and humility. Certainly, this is the only way we will experience joy and victory in whatever battles we face.”
Written by: Brett Allison
Biblical Counselor