Get up and pray

 "'Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.'" (Luke 22:46)

In his final hours, in his last private words to his intimate followers, Jesus instructs his disciples to pray.
Twice he urges them. Once as he walked away to his own private prayer spot, and again after he himself had prayed awhile.

In both instances he told them why they needed to pray: "so that you will not give in to temptation."

Even in his agony, Jesus is still teaching his disciples to pray. Even as he was praying his own prayer of submission, he plead with his followers to pray their prayers of submission. "Yet I want your will to be done, not mine," the Son says to the Father.

Isn't that the core struggle when we face temptations?  Whose will will be done?  The will of my flesh? The will of the world? The will of the devil?  Or the will of God?

How well did the disciples do?  Not so good. They fell asleep (Luke 22:39-47). They could not even overcome the temptation to not pray.

This Holy Week and beyond, how can we better learn to practice the prayer of submission that strengthens us against temptations? How can we guard ourselves from the slumber of a distracted heart?