Life Capsule for Today 16th March, 2024
Theme: Consistency in Prayer (7)
Topic: The War between the Flesh and the Spirit
Memory Verse for the week: 1Th 5:17: Pray without ceasing.
Today’s Reading: Mat 26:38-41
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thouwilt.
40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeediswilling, but the fleshisweak.
Words of the Ministry
Today we come to the conclusion of our lesson; consistency in prayers. I like to comment on another matter of serious consideration and that is the matter of the flesh. The bible teaches that the flesh only cares for the things of this world while our Spirit finds satisfaction only in God. Because man is a spirit being having a soul and living in a body, many of us tend to naturally obey the dictates of the body as it gives us natural satisfaction and we can easily relate with it. This in itself is the reason many can’t spend time in prayer, to them prayer is just a sequence of sentences made to a spiritual being that they can’t see, feel or hear. They are always in a hurry to end their prayers because their flesh finds the natural world much more real.
As many can relate with, when prayer time is mentioned, they begin to yawn, get bored, instantly feel sleepy or even fall asleep, a previously active brother 5 minutes before then falls under a heavy pull to sleep etc. Some may even find it easy to watch seasonal movies all through the night while they can’t even pray for 30 minutes at night, to many, they can hold conversations with friends for hours either physically or online but find a 30 minutes prayer to God as being too long. All of this is an indication of the battle between what the Spirit wants against the cravings of the flesh.
We see from the first reading that at the most important hour, the chief apostles could not even pray for 1 hour, even the almighty questioner Peter could not talk to God for an hour. Jesus assessing their situation said their flesh is weak, that is to mean that their flesh could not convey the burden of the Spirit, what a matter. He further said they should pray not to fall into temptation, we can therefore deduce that many fall into temptation when their flesh cannot convey the burden of their Spirit in prayers or when they choose to go with the flesh instead of being led of the Spirit. Funny enough, the same drowsy Peter drew his sword wanting to start a war after then, can we see the operations of the flesh. He doesn’t want to win the battle from the spirit, he prefers using carnal weapons.
Saints, this is a clarion call, we must be deliberate to deal with our flesh if truly we want to matter in the kingdom and build capacity in the Spirit, the human Spirit is never tired especially when regenerated but the flesh is an obstruction to the desires of God. We must therefore crucify the flesh daily by carrying our cross and ensuring that we discipline our body to obey God in us. Spending quality time in prayer doesn’t just happen, it is a product of deliberate actions and self-denial. May the Lord grant us light. Join us on 24th March by 4pm for Peniel Encounter.
Bible in one year: Joshua 9-10. For further fellowship send us an email on godmanvideos@gmail.comor visit our youtube channel: @godmanmedia. You can also interact with us by dropping your comments on our facebook page. Our physical meeting, Word feast comes up every Wednesday by 5pm and Prayer Gym every Saturday by 7am while PENIEL comes up once a month, every last Sunday of the month from 4pm to 6.30pm at Suite A10, Ahser Office Complex, beside Living Faith Church, Opposite Hassan Stores, Arab Road, Kubwa Abuja.