WATCH

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus invited his closest disciples – Peter, James, and John – to accompany Him in prayer. While He faced the kingdom of darkness, grieved to the point of death, sweating blood as He surrendered his will and accepted the cup of God’s wrath from his Father’s hand, his disciples fell asleep. Jesus, in great need of their prayers, tried to wake them up. He said to Peter: “Simon are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?” (Mark 14:37).

As we respond to our Saviour’s invitation to join Him in prayer, we fix our eyes on Jesus, asking God to reveal to us the majesty and glory of our risen Lord Jesus, so that we will be encouraged to stay faithful, to worship Him and to long for His return. Jesus issued many warnings of what was going to happen to his followers and to the world, especially in the end-times.

We should take these warnings to heart and pray that God will make us alert and prevent us from falling into the traps that the enemy sets for us. Jesus was concerned about the church. He not only prayed to the Father in John 17, but He called Peter and us, to watch over the sheep, to make sure that the church is cared for, both physically and spiritually. There are many unfulfilled prophecies, in both the Old and New Testaments, and many promises for us as individuals, for the church and for the nations, that must be accepted in faith and received in prayer.

God’s desire since He created Adam and walked with him in the garden of Eden, is to fellowship with humans. He loves us. He sent his Son to reconcile us to Himself. The door to heaven is open. John said that our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3). Listen to this conversation that Jesus had with our heavenly Father and know that God is waiting to fellowship with you: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)

Ever since Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the human heart is uncapable of discerning truth on our own. Our hearts are unreliable: The heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). When the disciples asked Jesus about the end times, the first thing He said was, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” (Mark 13:5). We live in dangerous times. Fake news are everywhere. Spiritual deception is even more dangerous. Revelation 12:9 called Satan the deceiver of the whole world. Jesus prayed in John 17:17 that the Father would sanctify us in His Word, for His Word is Truth. Now, more than ever before, we need the guidance of the Spirit of Truth.

The Apostle Paul agonised in prayer for the believers in the various churches, even calling God as his witness, “For God is my witness, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.” (Romans 1:9). As believers we are all called to pray for and encourage each other with our prayers. If one member of the Body suffers, we all suffer (1 Corinthians 12:26). Believers across the world face different challenges, i.e. persecution, imprisonment and depravation. We are called to carry one another’s burdens, to disciple, teach, nourish and watch over each other. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

Since Jesus ascended to heaven, there was one promise that filled the hearts of Christians with hope and expectation, with courage and endurance, the promise that Jesus will return. The Bible is full of promises and prophesies that await fulfilment. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom to come (Matthew 25:1-13). Let us wait with enough oil in our lamps.