Rise and Pray - A Gentle Call

Scripture

"And he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46, ESV)

Meditation

The passage gives us a glimpse of Christ's most intimate conversation with His Father while He was in the flesh. This prayer can be called the most important and intense prayer in human history - a prayer that validated all the other prayers ever prayed. The Son of God, when He truly felt the weight and burden of the sins of all mankind, when He needed strength, prayed. We are not left wondering what we must do when in need of strength.

Luke(the physician) alone, among the other gospel writers, gives us the intensity of this immense stress undergone by the Savior in the Garden. "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44,ESV). Jesus likely underwent a rare but real medical condition known as Hematidrosis - "A very rare condition in which an individual sweats blood. It may occur in an individual who is suffering from extreme levels of stress." Can we measure the agony caused by the weight of the whole world's filthy deeds and the resultant separation from the Father, on One who knew no sin and was with the Father eternally? Leonard Ravenhill rightly says, "Gethsemane is where He died; the cross is only the evidence."

"Gethsemane is where He died; the cross is only the evidence." - Leonard Ravenhill

After this agonizing prayer, Jesus finds His disciples sound asleep. These men were the very subjects of His prayer, the men whose sins and filth made him sweat blood. The Savior had already made a rare request to them to watch with Him, as he was very sorrowful, even to death.(Matt 26:38). But here they were, falling asleep multiple times. I wouldn't be surprised if the Jesus' prayer was interrupted each time by the sound of Simon snoring. (My snoring has interrupted my wife's prayer at times during family prayers) On seeing His disciples, He tells them gently - "Rise and Pray."

Talk about me. Just having a good, quiet time can sometimes cause pride about my(rarely consistent) spiritual disciplines and contempt for those who may be struggling in this area. To such men as I, Christ gives a good spanking(which I truly think I am in need of at times) with His gentle reply. Even after such an agonizing prayer, He doesn't brag here about how much He prayed. He doesn't give the disciples a list of their frequent failures in reaching His standards. He gently, but firmly, gives a call to pray.

The gentle call is for all of us. Can anyone among us ever say that our prayer lives are a match to the Savior who always intercedes for us? (Hebrews 7:25) How then can we take pride in our prayer life or spiritual disciplines? Moreover, how can we continue to pray with such spiritual pride?

For those who think they are praying well, and for those who know they aren't, the Savior's call is gentle yet clear - "Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”