Beware of the snare of overweighed hearts

Lk.21:36, Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. 

When Jesus commanded His disciples to watch and pray here, He pointed out to few reasons that causes being ensnared by overweighed hearts. And praying always is the only way to keep our heart ready to escape the snare of burdened hearts.  Lk.21:34-35,  “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. ³⁵ For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. The snare of weighed down hearts will come on all those who dwell on the earth. In other words, the world is becoming a tougher and tougher place to live, so much so that all will be weighed down and none can escape it, except through continuous prayerful attitude. A weighed down heart is like a snare. Reasons for that might vary but the result is same i.e., weighed down hearts get ensnared by the evil one very easily. Let us look into few reasons:

• Being weighed down with carousing: The word ‘carousing’ means drinking alcohol and enjoying the world. In other words, it refers to a life which aims to eat, drink and enjoy, with no priority to God. Jesus here spoke to disciples, which means even God’s children can loose a prayerful life if entertainment and enjoyment is given priority over prayers. We all live in a world full of stress almost in every walk of life, whether its work place, family life, dealing with kids etc. and we eagerly look for small breaks to relax and to be free from stress. But this has a danger of taking the priority in our lives, making us feel convinced that we are not going wrong even if that means compromising on prayerfulness. That’s why Jesus said ‘Take heed to yourselves lest….’. Entertainment and enjoyment are needed but in the control of the His Spirit, lest our priorities change and we are ensnared.

• Being weighed down with drunkenness: Here we can ignore this saying that we being God’s children will not be drunk with alcohol. But if Jesus is speaking this to His own disciples, He points out that to the fact that even small compromises with sin can easily steal away the passion for prayer, without us even realizing it. King David, being a prayerful man, fell into the sin of adultery. He then murdered and lied. Yet he was not convicted of his sins almost for a whole year till prophet Nathan was sent to him by the Lord. And all this time, he was unable to pray. For had he prayed, surely the Lord Himself would have directly convicted him of his sins. Sins quench the desire to pray. The spiritual life is a war field where Spirit and flesh is always conflicting or is at war with each other. Sin has a deceiving nature which can ensnare God’s children easily if we do not take heed to our own souls through continuous prayers. Regular and committed self-examination to repent and to be restored is essential to continue in disciplined prayerfulness.

• Being weighed down with cares of this life: We all face tough situations time and then. Being anxious about the cares of this life, concerns about tomorrow etc. is faced by every person. 8:14,” Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. “But when these cares of lives start choking the Word of God we hear and read time and again, it also chokes the desire and strength to pray. God’s Word is that which inspires us to pray and to keep praying, irrespective of situations. It’s God’s Word that strengthens us to pray, for prayers need much spiritual strength. It’s God’s Word that gives us faith to pray for faithless prayers are in vain. Before asking to cast his nets into deep sea, Jesus made Peter to pay his attention to the Word He preached by asking for his boat. He could have told Peter to do this even before he paid attention to His Word for, He had already seen these empty boats. But Jesus, the author and finisher of faith saw that any effort without faith would be in vain. Similarly, prayers empowered with faith has great power to do great things and such prayers do not get weary soon. The Word inspires them to keep knocking heaven’s door with great perseverance. 

• Being weighed down by weariness and temptations: 22:40, ‘When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Jesus asked Peter to pray for protection from temptations. Prayers have power to protect us from temptations and also to resist temptations. Peter was tired and weary, yet Jesus commanded him to pray. Let us not be overweighed with tiredness and weariness, for it hinders our prayers. This further leads a person to get ensnared in temptation. Peter was weighed down with weariness and could not pray. Hence, he got ensnared by the temptation of fear. He denied Christ easily thrice for the fear of being identified with Christ. His heart got overweighed by fear and was victimized. God’s mercy however rescued him for Jesus had prayed that his faith would not fail. Lk.22:31-32,’ And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” When others pray of us, His mercy rescues us. Yet we need to pray ourselves for not to enter into temptations.
• Being overweighed with sorrow: ‘22:44,’And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.’ Jesus was in much sorrow and agony as He was about to face the crucifixion. Such sorrow can easily pull back any person from prayer. Agony and sorrow have power to blind a person easily and it prevents the person to see the hope which might be lying ahead. Jesus, being man and God at the same time too struggled with the fact as to what was his own will and what was God’s will. Lk.22:41-42, ‘And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” He overcame the struggle by praying more earnestly at a time when anyone could easily withdraw from prayers. We need to move against the flow. Sorrows and agony make us go in the opposite direction of prayerlessness, cutting away from fellowships. But discerning that the devil tries to overpower us in such situations, deliberate and forced efforts to pray more earnestly and to be connected to prayerful fellowships rescues us.

Various reasons can cause overweighed hearts, but we as God’s children have a way to escape this snare i.e., by being watchful and prayerful. 1 Cor.10:13,’No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’  The way of escaping from such temptations of overweighed hearts is to do what Jesus did i.e., by forcing us to give ourselves for prayers, fully understanding that it’s the only way to escape. That’s the only way to watch over own souls, to discern and to take the right action. Even as we go around doing our responsibilities, we ought to have a prayerful attitude round the clock, so much so that we discern the weapons of evil easily and resist them. Let us take heed of our own souls.

God bless us all.