Matthew 26:41

WATCH AND PRAY

‘Watch and pray.’

Matthew 26:41

Here are two great safeguards against temptation—watchfulness and prayer.

I. Watchfulness.—‘Watch!’—for the great enemy is ever watching you.

(a) Against the devil. You have to wrestle even against the very hosts of hell (Ephesians 6:2).

(b) Against the world. The world is watching too. It expects much from the Christian. It has a quick eye to see his faults.

(c) Against sins. Perhaps you used to fall into certain sins which by God’s grace you have overcome; but remember those sins are only subdued. They are not dead; they may at any moment spring into active life. And more, you may fall into new sins, sins which you never dreamed of committing.

II. Prayerfulness.—How could we get strength to watch unless we pray? By prayer we may grasp the strength of God.

(a) You need the Holy Spirit to teach you to pray (Romans 8:26).

(b) Let your first thoughts in the morning be thoughts of prayer (Psalms 5:3). As Dean Law so beautifully expressed it, ‘The daybreak blessing is a day-long gain.’

(c) Let your prayers be definite. Ask for something in particular.

(d) Let your prayers be persevering. Our Lord spoke two parables with the distinct object of encouraging perseverance in prayer (St. Luke 11).

(e) Remember you cannot ask too much. God is ‘able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think’ (Ephesians 3:20).

(f) Cultivate the habit of silent or ejaculatory prayer. What victories over self and Satan! what peace! what joy! might we get, if we continually lifted up our hearts to God and said, ‘Lord, help me!’ There are several instances of this kind of prayer in the book of Nehemiah 2:4; Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 6:9; Nehemiah 13:22; Nehemiah 13:31; compare also Genesis 17:18; 2 Samuel 15:31; 2 Samuel 17:23; 2 Chronicles 18:31.

—The Rev. F. Harper.