CONCERT OF PRAYER  

Pray Week 740

“Four Steps from the Bottom”

Luke 22:39-62 (NKJV)  …When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” …

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Are you heading toward the pinnacle or the pit?  Are your trials making you stronger or weaker?  Are you growing closer to Jesus or becoming distanced from Him?  In which direction are your lifestyle decisions leading you?  In today’s Scripture reference let us examine the four steps that lead in the opposite direction from that which God has intended for our lives.

When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow… -Luke 22:45

The first step is to withdraw from prayer.  The disciples were depressed and sorrowful.  Our natural tendency when suffering from depression is to curl up and sleep.  We want to give up.  Perhaps you have believed and trusted in the truth of God’s Word and now it seems that your hopes are being dashed to pieces.  The cure is found in Jesus’ exhortation to “…Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”  Prayer and the sacrifice of praise bring us into God’s holy presence.  In the light of His presence darkness is dispelled.  Prayer strengthens our relationship with God and builds our faith and trust in His love and perfect will for us.  Prayer helps us to keep our eyes on the Lord and not on our present circumstances. Prayer builds hope.

… But Peter followed at a distance… Luke 22:54

The second step is to follow Christ at a distance.  Do you find yourself attending church less often?  When you do attend do you try to hide in the back and remain unnoticed?  Do you jump from church to church seeking comfort through an arms-length religious relationship rather than a personal, accountable relationship with Jesus? Your downhill slide is accelerating and you are becoming spiritually weak and vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. “… your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8

Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. …Luke 22:55

The third step is to warm yourself at the enemy’s fire.  When we back away from fellowship with God in prayer and the fellowship of the believers we back into the welcoming arms of the enemy.  When we have grown spiritually cold, Satan presents us with counterfeit comfort sources to warm us.  We are easily deceived and seek to fill our empty soul with the lusts of our flesh that do not satisfy and leave us even more empty, hungry and cold.

…But he denied Him … Luke 22:57

The fourth and final step is denying Christ when under trial.  We have hit bottom when we no longer have hope beyond what this world has to offer.  In the company of the lost we act, talk, and behave like the lost.  There is no differentiation between us and the lost which is tantamount to denying knowing Christ in order to fit in and belong.

Look up from the bottom and see Jesus looking directly at you.  Can you make eye to eye contact with Him?  Can you meet His gaze?  Do you remember the Word of the Lord spoken to you in times past?  It is not too late.  The pit can never be so deep that the Lord cannot reach you and lift you up and restore you to Him.  Rise and pray.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God