Watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation …
(Matt. 26:41)
There is a power that prayer has in keeping us safe from temptation and not just in delivering us from temptation, and the potency or the efficacy of prayers in blocking the doors of temptations ahead of us is tied to “watching”.
There should be no question as to how effective these can be, because the Master did not mince words in stating clearly “so that you will not” fall into temptation. Had he said “so that you may not or might not” fall into temptation, we would have had reasons to wonder if this is dependable. To doubt this is to be lost in the fruitless wilderness of unprofitable human reason and permutations.
But the question is “What do you watch?” is it your television or the champion’s league? The answer is in Heb. 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith”.
Now, how do you look unto Jesus? You look at Jesus by looking at the Word because He is the Word made flesh.
Herein lies the confusion that many have had in their Christian life and journey: they prayed, prayed yet they were trapped “in” and “by” temptation and if you ask them further they will swear that they also watched.
But the question is: what were you watching? You were not supposed to be looking at the temptation so that you don’t fall into it. As in to be so careful about the temptation as not to fall into it or fall for it. You were supposed to be looking at Jesus! You were not supposed to be looking at your bank account balance while praying, you were supposed to be looking at Jesus!
You have not really focused until you lose focus of other things except what you focused on (Pst. Donzoby).
Pst. Donzoby
When are you really watching? When can we say that you are looking unto Jesus? To look has to do with focus. It means to be so buried in the Word that it’s only the word that moves you to action. It means to be so focused that you don’t notice the distractions around. You have not really focused until you lose focus of other things except what you focused on (Pst. Donzoby).
I have fallen many times into temptation and I dare not lie about that and sadly, all of them can be traced to losing focus on the Master. It was more about focus than it was about prayers. Please get me right, I’m not trying to diminish the place of prayers, in fact the importance of prayers cannot be overemphasized. I just want to draw our attention to the need that we watch and watch aright.
Are you like me? Fallen severally into temptation? This is the Good part of our Good God! He gives countless chances for us to learn and grow and therefore all hope is not lost. Just get up, dust yourself and move on. Be determined to be prayerfully focused on Jesus and nothing in the weapons of the enemies can pull you down.
We pray this day that the Spirit of the living God will help us remain in steadfast prayer and unwavering focus on Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith in Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Many love from Pst. Donzoby @KOLIC
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