Part of the HARBOR HAWAIʻI ʻOhana

HARBOR HAWAIʻI ʻOhana

 

 Key Verse:

 “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

(Mark 14:38)

 

Key Themes:

  • The humble heart recognizes its own weakness for sin.
  • “Deliver us from evil” is the attitude of the person who recognizes his own weakness and dependency on God.

 

Lesson Summary:

When Jesus left the disciples in Gethsemane and went to pray, he knew that they were weak (Mark 14:37-38). Peter wanted to do what was right–he wanted to stay awake and pray–but his “flesh” was weak. We too can easily fall into sin because of our sin nature. Paul talks about this in Romans 7:18-25.

Sometimes, like Peter, we do not understand our weakness. Peter boldly said that he would not deny Jesus – but he did deny Him, three times. We can either have Peter’s attitude and ignore our weaknesses, or we can take Jesus’ good advice to watch and pray that we don’t fall into temptation.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells us to pray that we are not led into temptation and that we be delivered from evil. “Temptation” is probably better understood as “trial” or “difficulty”. Jesus is teaching us to pray that we be protected from trials that are too difficult for us, and that we do not sin in the trials that we face. So, instead of being like Peter who boasted that he was strong, we need to admit that we are weak and need God’s help.

 

Family Devotional:

Read: Psalm 73

Questions:

This psalm tells us the conclusion of the psalmist-it tells us what he has learned-in verse 1.

  1. What is this conclusion?
  2. What problem did the psalmist, Asaph, face?
  3. What is Asaph saying in verse 13? What temptation did he face? Do you ever feel this way? When?
  4. What does “I went into the sanctuary of God” mean? What can we learn from how Asaph handled his struggle?
  5. How does desiring God more than anything make temptations lose some of their power? What does this tell you about how to resist temptation? (Draw close to God; ask God to make Him your greatest treasure)

 

Pray: Use this psalm to help you pray asking God for protection against a specific trial you are facing right now.