Mark 14 details the events leading up to the arrest of Jesus. There is really slot in this passage to unpack, but what jumped out to me was how Jesus prayed in the garden.

He brought a few of the close disciples with Him and then went a little further to pray. He wanted them to watch and pray. However, they let hum down by falling asleep. Jesus comments that they should pray against this temptation because, “the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak.”

This is how temptation often occurs. My desire is to be up early in prayer, but my body says it’s comfortable in bed, my spirit says wake up. I enjoy a reasonable portion for dessert and my body says to try some more, my spirit says you’ve had enough. I see a provocatively dressed woman my body says to stare, my spirit says to look away. I see an opportunity to cheat at a game my mind says no one will know, my spirit says God will know.

We all wage the war of temptation between the flesh and the spirit. Jesus tells his men to watch and pray for their bodies are weak. Jesus was facing his own time of temptation. He asked God if there was another way, but not to do what He wanted, but to execute everything according to the fathers plan.

How do you handle temptation?