The flesh is weak

Bible Reading: Matthew 26 & Mark 14

Mark 14:37-38 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? 38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

To watch for one hour seems like a small thing to do. But sleep overtook the disciples. They were asked to pray for Jesus. He knew what was coming, but they did not. It was the most important hour as he prepared for the suffering that was to come. It was their last hours with him on this earth before the resurrection.

Have you ever faced this kind of temptation? You know that you need to pray but sleep overtakes you. We all know that we should pray more than we do. It is so hard to stay alert and watchful when the physical body is exhausted.

Here Jesus tells us of this constant battle that rages in the life of the believer. The flesh versus the spirit. The Word says:

Galatians 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

The flesh loathes prayer. It wants to accomplish. Prayer is spiritual and dependent. The flesh likes to do and be rewarded for what it has done. The spiritual life of prayer trusts in God and asks him to do what we cannot. The man or woman of prayer admits their desperate need. The flesh is prideful and selfish. Our flesh wants to think we have no need. Our flesh is spiritually lazy.

To win the war of the flesh versus the spirit we must feed the spirit on the Word of God and keep our eyes set on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must discipline ourselves to make time for prayer so we can find that quiet time alone with the Lord that feeds the spirit and nourishes our soul.


In Christ,
Rody