If the Lord Awakens Us to Pray

Have you ever been aware that you were sleeping (or in that drowsy state in which we do not know whether we are asleep or not) and heard the voice of God calling you to pray? You want to pray, but your eyes close and you cannot help it. Have you fallen asleep in the middle of prayer?

Beloved brothers and sisters, I invite you to look in the Word for the passage in the Gospel according to Mark, verses 37–41. The Master prays in Gethsemane that anguished prayer before being handed over to the local authorities and ultimately crucified. The disciples, very nearby, were sleeping.

After an hour of prayer, the Lord went to see whether his disciples were accompanying him through that bitter ordeal of praying while knowing that one of them had devised a plan to betray him. The prophecy was about to be fulfilled. He wanted to know whether his disciples were accompanying him in prayer, but they were sleeping. The Lord rebukes Peter in particular: Could you not stay awake even one hour? (37b). Jesus tells Peter a great truth: The spirit is willing, but the body is weak (38b). The story would repeat itself two more times. The Lord withdraws to pray, returns a third time, and finds them sleeping and resting. His rebuke came without delay. He had commanded them: Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation! (38a).

How shameful! When we read the passage and realize that at times we have not been obedient to the voice of God, there is no other way forward than to humble ourselves and ask his forgiveness. He knows us; he knows that sometimes we are willing to pray, but sleep overcomes us, negligence ensnares us in its nets of foolishness, the heart wants to bow down, but weariness defeats you. “I will pray tomorrow, when we are at the table and give thanks for our food”—a very convenient excuse. We postpone the blessings of prayer, the privilege of immersing ourselves in the Spirit of consolation and in the peace that prevail after a sincere prayer. Sadly, the prayer of thanksgiving for the daily provision of food when we are at the table, alone or with our family, has become the primary prayer of many Christians. We take advantage of that beautiful moment of family or individual communion and, by giving thanks for our food, believe that this is already sufficient as an act of worship toward the One who watches over us with the devotion of a loving Father every minute of our existence.

Jesus Christ wants us to accompany him in prayer. Luke says that Jesus was in agony when he was praying in Gethsemane; he was sweating drops of blood (Luke 22:44), and his humanity was coming apart in that desperate prayer. Perhaps the prayer of his disciples would have comforted him. The cup was bitter, but the prayer of his friends could have sweetened it.

Christ still suffers because of our rebellion; he sweats drops of blood from the pain caused by seeing humanity immersed in sin, lost in the transgressions brought about by disobedience and by relegating him—while we, his children, remain at the distance of a simple prayer over our food. Jesus wants us to be awake, to be alert in these inconsistent times when we need him so greatly in order to walk in faith, trusting in his providence and his companionship. If the Lord awakens you to pray, freshen your face and overcome the trial of the temptation to postpone the prayer he expects from you. Our prayer could make this world better if we accompany Jesus in his eternal mission of interceding for us and for all creation. Christ needed prayer companions in his human condition during the episode in Gethsemane. As God he did not need them; as the Son of Man, he did. He asked for them lovingly. Three times he approached the group, and three times he saw that his friends were sleeping, overcome by uncertainty and weariness.

It is a beautiful lesson for us. We have all passed through some Gethsemane in our lives and have needed a prayer companion, a friend to intercede for my anguish, for my need, for my faith so that I do not fall, and for my fortitude to rise in the precious name of Jesus. I thank God for the brothers and sisters who receive these humble reflections and are motivated by them to pray for one another, to intercede for the needs of the person asking for a word of comfort and prayer. God is glorified in sincere prayer, in intercession that comes from the heart on behalf of the one who needs it. If we had prayer companions, things would be different; the world would be different. I invite you to meditate on all this and pray without delay. Do not wait for the Lord to awaken you. Live alert and watchful in the Kingdom, praying without ceasing.

God bless you!