Luke 22:39-46

And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation. And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done. Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”^[1]

Have you ever tarried? Do you even know what that particular term means? The term is a throw back to the days when people would wait, or tarry before the Lord until they received that for which they prayed. But tarrying was not just about waiting, it also carried with it the sense praying with incredible intensity. That intensity is evidenced in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus retreated to pray. So fervent was his prayer that even the beads of sweat that fell from his head were like droplets of blood. Much of our prayer today lacks intensity. Not only do we refuse to wait before the Lord, but when we do we put God on a time table hoping that He will be so kind as to not inconvenience us any longer than is absolutely necessary. Like the disciples with Jesus, our circumstances have lulled us into a slumber when we should be praying, all while Jesus is laboring, tarrying in the Garden.

Perhaps Jesus’ question to His disciples should be the question we are required to answer today, “Why are you sleeping?” Given the state of our world, it is appropriate we acknowledge we have been slumbering while the world around us has been waiting from help and hope. When we should have been praying our sleeping made us susceptible to temptation, into which we willingly fell. While we were sleeping the Church we knew drastically changed and now we barely recognize it. It is time that we, like Jesus’ disciples wake up and pray that we might not continue to fall into temptation.

Lord, when we should have been praying we were sleeping. When we should have been praying our enemy crept in and occupied Your Church. When we should have been praying, but were sleeping, we fell into a multiplicity of sins. Today we bind up that spirit that lulls us into sleep and ask for the strength to awaken and begin taking back what our sleeping has allowed our enemy to steal. Forgive us of our slumbering and restore to us the joy of our salvation we pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Lk 22:39–46.