Luke 22:47-53
...the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, 'Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?' When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, 'Lord, should we strike with our swords?' And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, 'No more of this!' And he touched the man's ear and healed him.
After Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane, He got up from prayer, but His disciples got up from a good sleep; they both got up, but the results were drastically different. Jesus got up with peace and assurance in His heart, and even when He was facing Pilate, trial by the government and whipping, He was still filled with strength and wisdom. That's why even Pilate didn't know what to do with Him, because His words were filled with authority. The disciples who got up from sleeping, however, immediately went into chaos; someone hurt the ear of the servant of the grand priest, Peter was filled with fear and denied Jesus three times in front of servants and maids, and the rest of them saw danger coming and quickly dispersed.
Praying and not praying will produce drastically different results! After Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciple prayed in their house for ten days while waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. After they received Holy Spirit, they were filled with wisdom and authority! In the four gospels, the disciples were weak, lazy, greedy for money and power, and afraid of hardship and death; in other word, they were just like you and me. In the book Acts, however, disciples were not afraid of death and beating; when they were locked up in the prison, they still sang, they preached the gospel, healed the sick, cast out demon with great power, so the different between praying and not praying was truly amazing!
Actually, it's not difficult to know God's will at all; as long as you pray earnestly, pray eagerly, or even pray and fast, pray overnight, God will never hide His will from you! What really confuses us is usually not God, but ourselves. Therefore, James 1:5-7 say that "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord..." When we face different types of pressure, trial and suffering, do we want to pray watchfully with Jesus and claim victory, or do we want to be like the disciples, who fell asleep and stumbled to failure?
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