"Watch and Pray" International Night Vigil
All prayer warriors for Agape come together this night to watch and pray.
I have often reflected on how the apostles found it difficult to watch and pray at Gethsemane.
Matt26:40-41
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Note that the Lord tells them to watch and pray for themselves that they may not fall into temptation. He does not tell them 'pray for me, I suffer'. Though He loved all His apostles, He had taken the ones closest to Him -Peter - chosen to lead the flock, James-his own cousin and John- the Beloved apostle. Even these failed to support Him in prayer when He needed comfort the most.
I wonder if it would have been the same if the apostles had a clue as to what was in store for them. To witness the passion and death of their Master, to face the persecution for being His followers, even the death that each of them had to face?
Matt26:38
Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Any human that experiences sorrow so deep and intense cannot sleep. Can you remember the times that you were so overwhelmed with sorrow that you could not sleep?
Do share your thoughts and reflections.
It happened to me a lot of times that I cannot sleep. I am actually a worrier. I worry about almost anything and throughout the years, I have developed a lot of fears but as I get older, I thought I shouldn't be. But I think it started again when I stop working and took care of my father full-time and that's the time the years just passed by. And I felt nobody understands what I went through. It would have been different if the apostles understand the sorrow in Jesus heart. God moves in mysterious ways so there are so many things we don't understand here on earth - why bad things happen to good people, for instance.
ReplyDeleteShirls,
ReplyDeleteGreat job, loved the post and the call to watch and pray during the vigil.
The need of the hour is to be awake in spirit, when the temptation to sleep arises, one needs to be able to die to the body which is a difficult task for us and that's why we needed the lord to show us how to.