Watch and Pray

     Jesus said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40 NIV). His question to them struck me, because with all that is going on in the world, I struggle with fear as well. But why? Is it my lack of faith? 

    As the book of Mark continues, we find Jesus and the disciples in Gethsemane. Jesus tells his disciples, "Stay here and keep watch" (Mark 14:34) as He went to pray about His upcoming betrayal and death. When He returns, He finds His disciples sleeping, but He calls out Peter, "Simon...are you sleeping? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" (Mark 14:37-38). 

    When Jesus returns from praying a third time, His worn-out disciples are again sleeping "because their eyes were heavy" (Mark 14:40). Jesus chides them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come" (Mark 14:40-42). Of course, later in Mark, Peter denies Christ three times as Jesus told him he would, which he vehemently disagreed and then when it occurred Peter "broke down and wept" (Mark 14:72). 

    Peter as a disciple had seen Jesus' miracles and heard His teachings. But his fatal flaw? Being human. As much as he wanted to be Jesus' right-hand man, he didn't have the fortitude to accomplish his desires in his fleshly form. Jesus forewarns Peter of his upcoming fall when He admonishes him about sleeping and reminds him, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation" (Mark 14:38). 

    "Watch and pray," that's good advice for all of us. If we fail to look around at all that God has done, read His word, and pray to stay in His will, we too, like Peter will act as though we have no faith when testings come. And they will come, "The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 13:3). Why? James 1:2-4 gives us this insight, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

    What this tells me is that I will not overcome my fears by sitting around watching television and sleeping. To grow my faith and reduce my fear, I must actively pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ. I must be in God's word, the Bible, and fill myself up with His promises, not the world's problems. And then when Jesus Christ returns, He will not call me one with no faith, rather I will be "mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:4). How about you, is there fear in your life? In what ways could you "watch and pray" today and grow in your faith?

Luke 8:13 Those [seeds] on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.