And He came out, and went, as He was wont, to the mount of Olives: and His disciples also followed Him. And when He was at the place, He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when He rose up from prayer, and was come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow. And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Luke, Chapter 22, verses 39-46.
As a Christian, it’s easy for me to say, “Oh, no problem. I love You so much, Jesus; that there’s no way I will slip into temptation.” Well, if the disciples who loved Jesus very much could slip into temptation, then we need to learn from their actions and realize the importance of praying for God to keep us from temptation.
I recognize that sometimes when I say the Lord’s Prayer each night, I tend to ramble through it even though I know I shouldn’t. I’m not sure that God acknowledges prayers when we just ramble through them in a repetitive manner. When I say my prayers in the morning, I ask God to take care of all sorts of things: my family, the world, and me; but I don’t ask Him to protect us from temptation. As a Rambling Christian, this has made me extremely aware of my need to add that to my daily prayers and to slow down and focus on what I’m praying.
Here are some related passages:
*Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew, Chapter 26, verse 41.
Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
