Note 7 at Mk. 14:38: Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus' admonition to His disciples to pray. Matthew's and Luke's wording (Mt. 26:41; Lk. 22:40) could be interpreted to mean that Jesus was instructing His disciples to ask the Father to keep them from being tempted. However, the way that Mark records Jesus' words (also Lk. 22:46), leaves no doubt that He was saying that if the disciples were communing with the Father through prayer, they would not be tempted.

Temptation is linked directly to what we think upon (Heb. 11:15). Temptation has to be entered into. We can avoid temptation by avoiding thinking on things that gender temptation (Prov. 23:7). Since there is no such thing as not thinking, we cannot just try to reject all the negative thoughts of this world, but we must also think on the positive truths of God. This is where prayer comes in.

In prayer, we have our minds stayed upon God and therefore are not receptive to the thoughts that conceive temptation (Isa. 26:3; Phil. 4:8). Temptation or sin must be conceived (Jas. 1:14-15). Just as in the physical realm, the easiest way to avoid an unwanted birth is to avoid conception, so in the spiritual world, it is easier to avoid being tempted by being in constant communion with God than it is to overcome temptation once it has been conceived.