We live in a world with gadgets (mobile phones / tab’s / computers / smart TV etc..), to get the attention from us every app you have on these gadgets / social media platforms / all TV channels are competing and taking the time away from what you plan to do in everyday life, making many people to fail on what they plan to do.
We all have the habit of just taking the phone / unlock it / just check the notification and close it. We also check our phone when a notification sound from WhatsApp / Instagram or twitter. These are distractions that takes away our focus from the work we do and make us less productive on what we plan in our life. If you have serious issues and consult a doctor most of them recommend Digital detox therapy for this.
In our spiritual life Satan is keen on getting us distracted so that our spiritual connect with Jesus is not to the level that we should have and weakens slowly and drift away to the worldly things. In this he uses the powerful tool ‘DISTRACTION’. Distraction comes to us today more than it was in earlier times, our ability to focus and pray or study the Bible is less, we spend more time on mobiles than on our devotion times or prayer.
Distractions can come in the different form from Satan. He takes our day-to-day life’s activity and uses that as an excuse / lies and distracts us. Say if you work, he will put more pressure at your work to stay extended work by missing the time to spend on devotion or prayer. If you’re praying early in the morning, he will force you to sleep longer with late nights at work or social media chats to make you miss the fellowship with God on early morning. He will deceive / distract and do what you desire without surrendering to the will of God. Satan is master of deception and distraction; we can never beat this with our human abilities
Many times, we forget to pray on certain things unless we are reminded with a prayer list, Distraction is one form of sin when we are in close spiritual relation with Christ.
We see the incident of distraction happening to the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane
'Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ' Matthew 26:36-41
We read Jesus was sorrowful and troubled “he began to be sorrowful and troubled.” state and he wanted the disciples to pray “Stay here and keep watch with me “, Soon he comes back to check on them “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” . In the Garden of Gethsemane, sleepiness overcame the disciples. Their physical need overpowered their desire to obey Him.
Knowing this issue of sleep and their weakness Jesus gives the disciples a command
'“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
The same command applies to us today in our weakness to distractions of the world that takes time from our father in our spiritual maturity.
There are two things he tells us do first thing is to Watch and second thing is to Pray about that
Watch
The word translated “watch” means “to have the alertness of a guard at night.” A night watchman must be even more vigilant than a daytime guard. In the daytime, danger can often be spotted from a distance. But in the night, everything is different. A night watchman must use senses other than sight to detect danger. He is often alone in the darkness and without the defences he would otherwise employ. There may be no indications of enemy attack until it happens, so he must be hyper-vigilant, suspecting it at any moment. That is the type of watching Jesus spoke about. Peter explains this watch well 'Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ' 1 Peter 5:8
We are easily distracted by this world, our fleshly needs and desires, and the schemes of the enemy 'in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. ' 2 Corinthians 2:11
When we take our eyes from Jesus our values begin to shift, our attention wanders, and soon we are living like the world and bearing little fruit for God’s kingdom
Actions you can take
Unless you recognise and accept that your ability to watch is poorer and you get distracted like the disciples (sleep was the issue), likewise it can be many other things for us (it can be phone, work, family issues, daily challenges that torment you), God will not help unless we call our weakness and ask for help thru prayer with Jesus.
We must assess our self-capability, identify the weakness, and pray about it. once you pray Jesus will give you the qualities of shrewdness to be aware of the enemy’s plans thru the holy spirit. Like the promise he gives in Matt 10:16 - he will make you Shrewd as snakes to know what’s coming your way ' “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 'Matthew 10:16
Once you recognize your weakness, Christ power will manifest in your weakness and he will help you overcome these distractions. Christ will give you the grace. With it you will be able to stay awake and watch Satan lies / deception tricks to counter that. Paul says this well 'But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ' 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Pray
Jesus’s instruction to the disciples was to Pray. Prayer is the only way we can break Satan’s chain of distractions / lies and deceptions that come against us.
We can only remain faithful when we are devoted to prayer. In prayer, we continually allow God to forgive us, cleanse us, teach us, and strengthen us to obey him as his promise is true “'You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. ' John 14:14
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed 3 times.
'He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ' Matthew 26:42-45
We can learn from Jesus on this prayer, “went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.” Where he prayed the same prayer for 3 times. This shows us that it is not unspiritual to make the same request to God several times. Some people believe that if we ask for something more than once, it proves that we don’t have faith. That may be true for some in some situations, the holy spirit will reveal where you need to apply like that and where you need to continuously pray again and again. Here Jesus shows us that repeated prayer can be completely consistent with steadfast faith.
Actions you can take
Once you identify your weakness of distractions, pray about this repeatedly ask for God’s help to overcome that, like how Paul asks us to pray 'pray continually, ' 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Only thru prayer you can overcome this as we are no match to Satan’s deceptive techniques. With Jesus besides us we can break these smartness of Satan.
Grace that’s given to all the Children of God thru the holy spirit will talk using the word of God (“Bible”) to expose Satan’s deceptions / distractions so that we can fight that back.
I struggle with distraction issue and its impact to spiritual life. Recently God made me be aware of this issue. With Gods help I got over that, the action I did was to watch / Pray continually about this weakness. With his help I can fight back, it’s a daily battle.
Remember, this distraction is not a one-time event, it’s there in our life till death, it’s there every min we live on this earth.
So always watch & pray to get the strength from God to make you aware of the distractions that’s making you less spiritual and ask God’s help to encounter the distraction of life that comes daily.
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