Watch and Pray - Sunday Sermon Review

Sunday Sermon Review from my home church I attend regularly. We are continuing on in our Matthew series. This Sunday's sermon was from Matthew 26: 31 - 46 with the focus verse 41 being verse where it says:   Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.


Matthew 36: 31-46 

31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

Here are my sermon notes:

We have come to the climax of the book of Matthew. The darkest part of a story is the climax.

Things don't always work out as we had hoped or expected. There is loss of hope and we experience pain.

Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. He is troubled and He is sorrowful. He calls on the disciples to pray with him. They fall asleep though He urges them to "watch and pray!" These are words for all of us - Watch and Pray!

How do we watch and pray?

We must remember that when we pray we are calling out to our Heavenly Father - our Abba that is our "Daddy".

We are to pour out our heart to our Heavenly Father.

Why would you hold back? Our Heavenly Father has a furious love for his children.

Jesus prays " nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt".  Jesus is driven to glorify God. He has learned obedience as a Son as we learn in Hebrews 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

How can it be the Father's will that Jesus would suffer?

Jesus is fully human and fully God. Jesus chose to suffer and die for us out of love for us. The human side of Jesus does not want to go through this but He prays "  not as I will, but as thou wilt". He submits to the will of our Heavenly Father.

Prayer is about coming to accept the will of the Father.

Bring everything to Him. We need to have the same attitude as Jesus had.

Some people resist submitting to the Father.

Our flesh needs to die -  our flesh needs to be exposed. We need to walk in the Spirit.

Jesus is overwhelmed to the point of death. He pleads for a different way but He submits to the will of the Father.

Ask your Heavenly Father for protection from temptation.

To watch means you make a plan to help you to avoid falling to the temptations. Do what it takes to remain faithful to our Lord Jesus, to remain faithful to the will of our Father in Heaven.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I once heart Woodrow Kroll pray this pray and I thought I would make it my own: 

Heavenly Father - Your will be done, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

Amen