An hour of prayer: keeping watch with Jesus without falling asleep
“What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” Jesus' sentence to his disciples, in the garden of Gethsemane, resonates like a tender reproach. This quest invites you to take it literally: blocking an hour in your week to pray without interruption, alone or with a friend.
What it looks like in your day
An hour of prayer can seem immense. It is less so when you divide it up. Here is a plan in four quarter-hours:
- First quarter-hour: arrive and worship. You settle in, calm down, let the agitation subside. You read a psalm out loud, sing softly, give thanks for who God is and for what he has done this week.
- Second quarter-hour: listen to the Word and confess. Read a passage (for example the account of Gethsemane), let it speak to you, then confess what you need to confess.
- Third quarter-hour: ask for yourself. Your needs, your decisions, your fears, your projects. Speak frankly.
- Fourth quarter-hour: intercede. Your family, your friends, your church, your city, the world. You can use a list to help.
A few practical tips: choose a place without distractions; put your phone in airplane mode; plan a drink and a notebook; walk if you fall asleep; don't judge yourself if your mind wanders, gently bring it back.
If you are short on time, schedule the hour in advance in your planner. If it is your first time, do it with someone else: praying with a friend helps you keep going. If you are shy, remember that nobody is listening: you are alone with God.
What the Bible says
Here is the moment at Gethsemane:
“And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Jesus is in the depths of anguish. He asks his friends for one very simple thing: to watch with him. They fall asleep. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”: Jesus doesn't condemn them, he knows human weariness. But he tells them how not to fall: watch and pray. He himself spent whole nights in prayer:
“And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;”
He prayed all night before choosing the twelve. An hour is modest in comparison. It is not a performance, it is a way of keeping him company and of standing before the Father.
Pitfalls to avoid
Falling asleep and feeling guilty. The disciples fell asleep, and Jesus said: “The flesh is weak.” If you nod off, walk, change position, open the window. It is not a failure.
Filling the hour with requests. An hour of lists of needs is exhausting. Alternate: word, praise, silence, request, intercession.
Praying to impress. The hour is not a trophy. If you tell about it to make yourself look good, you lose the essential.
Planning everything. An outline helps, but leave room for surprise. If God keeps you on a subject, stay there.
Giving up if the first time is hard. The first hours are often laborious. Try three times before judging.
This week, block an hour in your planner. Prepare a plan in four quarter-hours and keep to it.