Prayed Up?

In Matthew 26, Jesus takes three of His disciples into the garden to pray. But the hour must have been late and instead of praying, they fell asleep. Not once, but three times. Finally, the soldiers came and took Jesus away, and what happens? The disciples scattered.

Have you ever wondered what might have happened if the disciples had been “prayed up?” If instead of sleeping, they too had prayed like Jesus asked them too. Could Peter have admitted his allegiance to Jesus instead of denying Him three times? Could the disciples have stayed by Christ’s side through the entire ordeal instead of cowering?

Later, when Peter prays on the day of Pentecost, this same man that denied Christ had the boldness to save thousands. When we pray, it changes things, because we are no longer relying on our own strength, but God’s.

Each and every day, we are faced with crucifying our flesh. God has called us to pray because He knows that temptation will come. The Bible doesn’t say that it MIGHT come. It says WHEN it comes. Are we ready or are we sleeping?

Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Open Doors and Big Walls of Water

This Sunday, we had a special guest speaker, Jason Frenn, a radio host and best selling author. He spoke about "open doors," and gave the illustration of Moses and the walls of water.

The Israelites were trying to escape Pharaoh's slavery, but in order to do so, they would have to cross the red sea...impossible. But God provided an "open door." The seas parted and there was dry land. I can imagine the big waves on both sides were scary, and most likely, the Israelites would have said, "No way are we crossing through there." But they didn't have a choice. It was either step out in faith, or be killed by the enemy that was hot on their heels.

Is God providing you an open door? Are you too scared to step through it? Do you need God to provide a trial to move you forward or will you step out in faith?