“When he [Jesus] rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”” (Luke 22:45-46 NIV)

Jesus spent time in passionate prayer with The Father, knowing what He was about to experience at the hands of those He came to save. Rising from discussion with The Father, Jesus three times approached His Disciples who repeatedly fell asleep instead of praying like Jesus had asked them. In prayer; in His humanness, Jesus asked The Father to remove the suffering that He would endure; however, in His divinity, Jesus surrendered to The Father’s perfect plan. The Disciples; in their humanness, gave into their desire for sleep over Jesus’ request for them to pray. He knew of the temptation that they would come against very soon and warned them to pray so that they would have the strength to say no to that temptation.

Rise up and pray so that ‘you’ won’t fall into temptation.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT)

The Apostle Paul had just reminded the Philippian church that the Lord is coming soon and followed that reminder with the charge to pray; pray about everything with a grateful heart. Paul’s charge to pray is a warning. Praying with a grateful heart strengthens God’s people so they are able to say no to the trappings of temptations within the life of the believer. Not only will God’s people have strength to endure temptation, but also possess His peace that surpasses understanding.

Rise up and pray with a grateful heart and experience God’s peace.

Rise up and pray!

Rise up and pray; you will be strengthened!

Rise up and Pray with a grateful heart; you will experience God’s peace!

Rise up and pray!