41Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [simple_tooltip content=’36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”
37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.’](Matthew 26:36-45)[/simple_tooltip]
If you are born again, your spirit is not your problem. The Holy Spirit made your spirit new when He came to live in you. Now your spirit is just like Jesus [simple_tooltip content=’Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.’](1 John 4:17)[/simple_tooltip] and is always willing to do God’s will. It is your flesh that is your problem.
The flesh, as Jesus describes it here, not only includes your physical body but also your soul. God has given you everything it takes to walk in victory, but you also have the treasure of your born-again spirit housed in an earthen vessel [simple_tooltip content=’But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.’](2 Cor. 4:7)[/simple_tooltip]. That is saying that your spirit, where God has deposited all of His power and glory, resides inside your flesh.
Jesus had asked His disciples to watch and pray with Him in what was His most distressing time. He said to them, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,” and asked that they pray for Him. None of them were able to do it. They all fell asleep! We think this is outrageous until we are physically exhausted and the Holy Spirit gives us an unction to pray. Our spirits (and sometimes our souls at first) are so willing, but our flesh is still tired. Eventually we will decide to either persevere in the Spirit or give in to our flesh.
What you need to remember is that you can tap into the power of the Holy Spirit inside your spirit by renewing your mind with God’s Word. The more your mind is renewed, the more the power of God will flow through your soul and physical body. You must exercise your soul, mind, and body unto godliness [simple_tooltip content=’7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.
8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.’](1 Tim. 4:7-8)[/simple_tooltip]. Then, when the Holy Spirit asks you to intercede and stand in the gap for someone at three o’clock in the morning, your spirit—that is always willing—will easily dominate your flesh.
