Yesterday, while doing my fourth hard thing, I had the privilege of sitting with two prayer warriors.  Two women committed to praying weekly for every request that comes through from people in our church and community.

The best part is that these two are not only warriors, but precious friends. 🙂

I pray a lot on my own.  My brand is an ongoing conversation throughout the day with Jesus.  It’s how I “live and move and have my being”. (Acts 17:28).  It’s my life line.

But to be in the company of these two, who pressed into each request as if it were their own, was so humbling.  And beautiful.

My most natural bent in life is short and irregular spurts of quiet watered down with lots of activity in between. Just the posture of sitting for two hours was a stretch.  I felt my body begin to fidget at the one hour mark.  My mind began to wander with the prompts of each request.  Focus and stillness are not my strong suits. 🙂

But then my wandering mind went to the story of Jesus and His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane.  He took three of His closest friends, James, John and Peter with Him to pray.  This was right before Jesus would be betrayed and sent to die on the cross.  He was in emotional and spiritual agony.  He chose these guys to share His burden, to pray with Him.  An intimate privilege to join Him in His pain, and in the spiritual battle against  the temptation to want anything less than God’s will.

Three times He prayed.  Three times they fell asleep.

Sounds so insensitive doesn’t it?  Yep.  But I could relate to their behavior as I squirmed in my chair.  My “spirit was willing but [my] flesh was weak” just like Peter, James and John in the garden.  This comment of Jesus’ was in reference not just to the fact that they fell asleep in prayer but also to the reason prayer is so vital. It keeps us focused, alert and connected to our Power Source for all of the areas of life where our spirits might be willing but our flesh is weak – the real life struggles and temptations of life.

(Side note:  This just occurred to me … Is it a coincidence that Peter missed three different opportunities to pray with Jesus and then later that night denied knowing Jesus three times? His heart was not prayerfully prepared for the temptation that was right around the corner.  Just a thought.)

“We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.

Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don’t want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of ‘good time’ is seldom in sync with ours.” 
― Oswald Chambers

“Kingdom praying and its efficacy is entirely a matter of the innermost heart’s being totally open and honest before God. It is a matter of what we are saying with our whole being, moving with resolute intent and clarity of mind into the flow of God’s action.” – Oswald Chambers

I have so far to go in the practice of consistent prayer for others. Of remembering to pray for their requests and sticking to it until God answers in one way or another.

I need to be better about praying in preparation for each day and what it holds.  To pray that my “weak flesh” would be strengthened to match up with my willing spirit. To pray protection over my heart and the hearts of others.

But I have at least two friends beside me who will teach me by their example.  Warriors who are patient with my learning curve.

One day I won’t wiggle so much.

But today will be another chance to practice.

– Are you declaring a “repeat” on one this past week’s hard things?

– Are you determined to keep practicing until it’s no longer hard?

– Do you have people around you that you can learn from?

Matthew 26L36-46 – Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed,“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.“Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.  So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.  Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”