224 of 365 - Watch & Pray

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:38
 
Shortly after Peter confidently asserts to Jesus that he will never fall away, he finds himself in a garden where Jesus brings him and a few others to pray.
 
Here Jesus finds Peter failing at something far less intense than facing death for Jesus’s sake.…namely, not being able to stay awake when Jesus asks him to during a time of deep need.
 
“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Jesus says.

Be alert. Watch and pray. We can’t fight temptation on our own. We need to tap into the power of God. But again, Peter falls asleep.
 
Not many hours later Peter denies Jesus. Three times. And not to an armed military commander, but to an unthreatening servant girl. The rooster crows.

And this is so us, right? We feel so close to God and we make promises we can’t keep. Or we royally mess up and we make promises we can’t keep. Or we want something so badly and we make promises we can’t keep. Or we let emotions get the best of us and we make promises we can’t keep.

Be careful what you promise to God. He doesn’t want our naive promises; He wants our person, our presence, our devotion. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We must watch and pray.

Questions: What promises have you made, so sure you would keep them, but ultimately broke? Why was it so hard to keep? What caused you to break your promise?