ARE YOU SLEEPING?
Matthew 26:36-46

“Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Matthew 26:45) When Jesus took three of His disciples, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, with Him to a place called Gethsemane, it was for the purpose of praying. Jesus wanted them to watch and pray when He specifically said to them, “…My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:38) The three disciples could not stay awake to watch and pray just has Jesus requested. The three that were the closest to Jesus, the ones that had been through it all with Jesus, could not keep up with Jesus’ request. Three times Jesus went back and forth to keep them awake, but they slept through the whole time that was left for them to watch and pray for Jesus. The reason why the disciples could not keep up in watching and praying was because their eyes were heavy, “And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.” (Matthew 26:43) When there is spiritual heaviness the whole body that includes the eyes. Sleeping when you are most needed to stand in gap for the Lord is the demonstration that determination, love, or wisdom will fail. In the days that are here, how much sleep are you having? Before taking Peter and Zebedee’s two sons to Gethsemane, Jesus had just talked about the Parable of the Ten Virgins whereby he emphasized that, “…While the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.” (Matthew 25:5) Among the ten virgins, the five that did not have what it takes to make the wedding could have made it, if they had been awake to see the need for oil before it was too late. The evidence of sleeping is a demonstration of the lack of adequate preparation. Inadequate preparation is rooted in lack of prayer in the life of a believer. Believers that constantly sleep, in place of prayer, cannot prevail when the betrayer strikes. The three disciples could not stay awake, until Jesus’ betrayer was at hand. What is sleep taking away from you today? In the world of today, the chief of all betrayers, the wicked one, has not stopped, but is working hard to inflict as much damage as possible. Just as it was when Jesus walked the face of earth before His arrest, so it is today. Today is not the time for sleeping, but it is the time of waiting and watching on for Jesus so as to stop the move of the chief betrayer.
Prayer for today: O Lord have mercy on me and deliver me from sorrow sleep. Help me to be awake. Keep me alive doing the business of the Kingdom, when the bridegroom comes and shuts the door.