Day 5 | An Unguarded Spirit

Yesterday we noted that the first mistake that we are prone to make is not guarding and assessing our strengths. This can be avoided by embracing our human frailty and leaning on the strength of Christ. 

The next thing Peter does seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He skips the prayer meeting. After declaring his whole-hearted loyalty to Jesus and telling him that he would die by his side if he had to, Jesus asks something so simple of Peter. He asks him to pray with him. But when Jesus comes back, Peter is asleep. Jesus asks him to pray again, and again Peter decides that his time would be better spent catching some zzz’s. How could Peter have the fortitude to die for Jesus if he couldn’t even pray with Jesus? It makes me wonder: How many times do we make big declarations of faith but then fail to take the small steps of obedience that lead us to the fulfillment of those declarations? 

“Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jesus says, “Pray that you’re not led into temptation, Peter.” This was the warning. This was the moment that would have prepared Peter’s lips with a resounding ‘yes!’ when, in just a few hours, he would find himself sitting around a campfire and being asked the question, “Are you with Jesus?” This was the moment—the moment that would have prepared him for the greatest battle he’d ever fight within his soul. It was a moment that no one would celebrate. It was a moment that no one would like on Instagram. It was a moment that he’d get no credit for. It was a moment that no one would ever see. I wonder if it even would’ve been written in the Bible at all if Peter had just prayed with Jesus; surely they had all prayed together before, but we don’t see it in Scripture.

Peter decided to sleep rather than to pray, and he left his spirit unguarded. Prayer is the protective force around our lives. It positions us in a place of power. We should never underestimate the power of prayer in our own lives. Yes, we pray for the needs of others. Yes, we pray for the needs of the world, but this was the moment for Peter not to pray for the world but to pray for himself and to take inventory in his own heart—to follow the example of Jesus, who was in a garden praying so hard that his body was producing blood out of his sweat glands—and yet all the while, Peter is asleep with his spirit unguarded. We have to get into that place of prayer. We’ve got to fight for that place of prayer and connection with Jesus. 

I’m not saying this in a religious way. I’m not saying this legalistically. Prayer is a relational imperative in the life of the believer. Sometimes we view prayer as a test for our discipline, but prayer is more than that. It is an indicator of the health of our relationship with God. Any relationship that exists without communication is unhealthy. Prayer guards our spirit. Prayer is a secret place, an uncelebrated place, at times a painful place, but it is a crucial place. 

Ask yourself this question: What does my prayer life look like right now and what does that say about the condition of my relationship with Jesus? Am I putting myself in a place of power through prayer or am I, through my lack of connection to God, putting myself in a place of vulnerability to the attack and the weapons of the enemy?