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Day 281, or October the 8th. Always be on your

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guard. Our thoughts today come from Matthew chapter

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26, verse 41. Watch and pray, so that you will

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not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing,

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but the flesh is weak. And now the big picture surrounding

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this verse. We are quickly approaching the end

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of Jesus' earthly ministry and he will never

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leave the south and visit Galilee again until

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he is raised from the dead. Jesus celebrates

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his last Passover meal with his disciples in

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the upper room, and is betrayed by one of the

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twelve, Judas Iscariot. After Judas leaves the

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upper room, the rest of them leave, singing,

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for their last visit to the Mount of Olives,

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where Jesus is captured in the Garden of Gethsemane

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and taken away to be tried. He sees his prophecy

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of Peter's denial fulfilled in the courtyard

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of Caiaphas' residence. There the chief priest

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and the whole Sanhedrin meet to form the highest

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court in Judaism, in order to convict the man

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who they are convinced is a fraud, but in reality

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is the Messiah they have all been waiting for

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over the centuries. How ironic! And now today's

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action step. It's interesting that our Lord,

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who taught his disciples to pray, and is the

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source of our inspiration when we pray, seems

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to demote prayer to second place when he speaks

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to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane,

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shortly before his arrest and trials. He says

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that they, and of course it must go for us too,

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are to watch and pray. For years I taught in

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Sunday school and often asked the kids what they

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should do when they're in trouble. They always

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said pray. I'm not sure they meant it, but they

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knew it was the right answer and it was the one

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I was expecting. Our verse today challenges this

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assumption. Jesus told the disciples to keep

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watch and then pray. In other words, do all you

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can to steer clear of temptation and then bathe

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it all in prayer. Too often we think prayer will

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immunize us from temptation, but it doesn't.

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We are to do our part, watch, and God will do

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his part as we pray.