Matthew 26:41  “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.  For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

Temptation has a way of sneaking up on you when you are least expecting it.  Your faith journey may seem to be going fairly well, but just when you think you are doing ok, the lure of temptation appears out of nowhere.  You are fooled by its deceptive appearance, and before you know it, you have already taken the bait.  Every single one of us has experienced this.  The fundamental question is: How can we overcome it?  We must learn to watch and pray.

In Matthew 26, Jesus taught His disciples a valuable lesson on overcoming temptation when He took His disciples with Him to an olive grove called Gethsemane to pray just before facing the cross. Jesus used their drowsiness to warn them about the kinds of temptations they would soon face.

That very night He would face perhaps His most intense temptation as Son of Man.  Would He drink the cup of suffering before Him? That night, He would be betrayed and handed over to the religious leaders to be tried and crucified the next day.  Each one of these disciples would face the temptation to desert Him.

According to what Jesus taught, in order to triumph over temptation, we must watch, remain vigilant, and pray.  Keeping oneself vigilant implies being conscious of the potential for temptation to present itself at any moment.  The body is weak, but the spirit is prepared to do all that is needed!

Prayer not only makes us more vigilant, but it also provides us with the spiritual fortitude we require to fight against evil.  We are able to identify areas of weakness that would otherwise entangle us through prayer, which also helps us establish a connection with God.

If you want to defeat Satan’s scheme to deceive you, stay alert, keep watch and pray.