Watch + Pray
Sue Pyke | March 13, 2023
The season of Lent is a 40-day period leading up to Easter where we focus on confessing and repenting of sin, confronting temptation, and interceding for the needs of others. Our theme for Lent at Trinity is Watch and Pray, based on Jesus with his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane shortly before he was crucified (Matt 26:36-45).
Jesus instructs his disciples to keep watch and pray. His words take on urgency when he returns from his own watching and praying to find the disciples sorrowful and sleeping. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation (v 41). Jesus knows that watchfulness sees temptation coming, and in prayer we receive strength to resist it. Jesus is gentle with his friends, acknowledging their desire to be faithful to him, yet knowing their weakness. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (v. 41). He is gentle with us too, as we face circumstances that test our faith.
The call to pray against temptation is described vividly in Psalm 141, providing a helpful reflection on how to apply this spiritual practice in our own lives. We see in this psalm how internal heart orientation leads to outward words and actions. We tend to think that resisting temptation is all about having willpower or mental and emotional strength. But notice how Psalm 141 describes resistance as engaging us physically and spiritually.
Lord, my hands are lifted up, and I’m calling out to You. Come quickly to me! Guard my mouth, that I would speak words pleasing to You. Don’t let my heart be drawn to evil. I want to walk in Your ways; keep me from participating in sinful actions. I would rather taste and see that You are good than eat the superficial treats offered by those who try to entice me into wrong behavior.
If a trusted fellow believer would correct me to keep me on the right path and away from temptation, I would receive it as a kindness. That would be like the anointing of my head with oil, a generous and merciful act.
I am lured by those who would have me join them in wrongdoing. But I see only You, my God, and You are sovereign even over these circumstances. When I take refuge in You, my pursuers end up caught in the very traps they hoped to use to catch me. I walk in safety when I walk with You.
Psalm 141 (paraphrase mine)
What temptations do you face? Be honest, with yourself and with God. He will meet you where you are. Let this psalm be a prompt for you in prayer if you struggle with these or other temptations:
GOSSIP – Set a guard over my mouth, Lord. Let my words be kind, compassionate, and life-giving.
SELF-INDULGENCE – Lord, let me taste your goodness rather than eat the seductive sweets of a consumerist lifestyle.
ANGER – Lord, don’t let my heart be drawn to what is evil. Create in me a clean heart, a source of love that heals rather than wounds.
ENVY – My eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord. I’m taking refuge in you. Keep me from looking longingly at what others have and stirring my heart to disordered desires.
UNFAITHFULNESS – My God, don’t let my heart be drawn to what is evil. Let me not justify wrong actions and hang out with those who would persuade me to participate in them. Let me pass by in safety.
Jesus knows the power of temptation. He knew it throughout his life and at the end, through the deep suffering of his prayers of obedience to his Father’s will in Gethsemane. The good news is that because of his obedience, his ultimate prayerful resistance to temptation, he went to the cross for us. The Sinless One died for all of us sinful ones. In his death and resurrection, he overcame the death that awaited us and opened the way to life with him. The saving grace and mercy of his loving sacrifice offer us the hope of becoming every day more like him in prayerful resistance to temptation.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – Hebrews 4:14-16
