Sabu Athimattathil preaches on the importance of staying alert, watching, and praying against the desires of the flesh to avoid falling into temptation. Using examples from the Bible, he emphasizes the ongoing struggle between the new man in Christ and the flesh, highlighting the need for constant vigilance and reliance on God's strength to overcome sin. Just as Jesus asked His disciples to pray for Him in His moment of weakness, we are encouraged to seek God's help in times of temptation, knowing that He can save us from falling into sin.

Matthew 26:41 says, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His last hour, taught His disciples something important: they needed to be alert and have a prayerful heart in their daily life. By the grace of God, we are born again and are filled with the Holy Spirit. The “old man” within us is gone (he has been crucified with Christ) and we have become a “new man” in Christ. However, even though we have become new men, we still have our flesh in us. Our new man’s desire is to please God. However, while the new man seeks heavenly things, the flesh’s desires are earthly achievements and material things. Because of our flesh, we will always have a “pull” and temptation to obey our fleshly desires and commit sin. The apostle Paul, a mature man in God, is seen struggling in Romans 7:15: “For what I am doing, I do not understand, for I am not practicing what I would like to do but I am doing the very thing I hate.” He talks about his struggle with his flesh. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the most spirit-filled man to have ever lived on this earth, asked his disciples to pray for him because while His spirit was willing to do the will of God, his flesh was weak. Staying alert, watching, and praying against satisfying the desires of our flesh should be integral parts of our everyday lives until we have taken our last breaths. The Living Bible says, “Keep alert and praying, otherwise temptation will overpower you.” Genesis 4:7 says, “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Suppose you lived near a forest filled with wild animals. One day, your neighbor calls you and says that there are several tigers at your doorstep. What would you do in this situation? You wouldn’t dare go near that door. What if, however, your curiosity gets the better of you and you slightly crack open the door to see the tigers on the other side? The tigers will immediately knock the door wide open and attack you. This is exactly what happens when temptation comes to the doorstep of our hearts. If we take temptation lightly, we may end up in sin. This is the reason Jesus tells us to stay alert. While Jesus was on this earth, he was watchful at all times. He was vigilant in every step of His life. 1 John 2:6 says, “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” When we walk, our eyes should be open. When we talk, we should be careful of what we say, accountable for every word we speak. Never praise God and, with the same tongue, curse others. We must be alert. Our eyes must also be pure in the sight of God. Are we careful when it comes to what books we read and what television shows we watch? Our ears - what types of music do we listen to and what kinds of conversations do we listen to? We must be careful with every part of our bodies, for our bodies are God’s temples. Jesus never prayed for a comfortable life; instead, He asked the Father for strength to overcome temptation because he knew that he had the same flesh as us humans. He thus cried out to God as it says in Hebrews 5:7: “He offered up both prayers and supplication with loud crying and tears to the one able to save Him from death.” When your child is sick, what do you do? You cry out to God and ask Him for healing because you love your child but hate the sickness in him. In Jesus’s case, “He loved righteousness and hated sin (iniquity)” (Hebrews 1:9). He hated it so much that he cried out to the father to save him from temptations. Do you hate sin? If you do, you must also cry out to the Father to save you from the sin in your life. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, He will guide us in every situation. Our job is to submit to Him wholeheartedly and pray to God for His grace.