29/04/2026
Tuesday 28 April 2026
Digging Deep
Pas Kingsley Percy
SECURITY WEEK DIGGING DEEP OUT LI N E
WATCH AND PRAY. THE BIBLICAL MANDATE FOR VIGILANCE
-divine protocol for every believer, especially for those called to stand as watchmen or security operatives in the house of God.
Text Matthew 26:41
Opening prayer
{Percy: Thank the LORD for watching over you and your family. The Bible says it's He that watches over the city and that safety is of the LORD. Thank Him for keeping evil away from you and you away from evil. Thank Him because a thousand is falling and ten thousand and yet it has not come near us. Thank Him for bringing 2026 Security Week for us to observe, and for the awareness it is to pass to all and the security that will result from it. Father, please, help us to join you in watching, to do that which you require us to do and not leave everything for you to do. Amen}
Key text:
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bible.kingjamesbiblelite
Introduction
{Percy: 2026 Security Week begins in RCCG today. Because Christianity has been given a wrong perspective about Security over the years and the Church increasingly displeasingly vulnerable creating more openings for besiege, it has become necessary for RCCG to create awareness on the biblical mandate for Security and lead in bringing God's expectations on Security to all believers. RCCG wants all to know that though God watches, He has always done so with men! The theme for this year is WATCH AND PRAY. THE BIBLICAL MANDATE FOR VIGILANCE. This teaching is for all believers especially Securuty Operatives in the house of God. Our Bible text is Matt 26:41. Our Lord gave this command few hours before the enemy besieged the place he and his disciples were. What then is to watch and what then is to pray?}
To watch is to: stay alert and awake, be vigilant and observant, guard actively and intentionally, anticipate danger, and take responsible action. To pray is to invite divine intervention, align with heaven's strategy, seek His wisdom and protection, and acknowledge our limitations and His Sovereignty. This implies that we depend wholly on God.
The LORD in that Matt 26:41 meant, {Percy: Watch [be on guard; be not caught unaware] and pray [seek aid or enablement to bear whatever trials that come], that ye enter not into temptation [that your faith be not overcome as to doubt whether or not that I am the Messiah, or that you are with the Messiah eg case of Peter’s denial resulting from failure to heed this warning]: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak [We have willing spirit but weak flesh, that's why we must watch and pray]
Note: The Lord had in Matt 26:38 warned his disciples to tarry there and watch with him - not to stop the coming trials but to be on guard, to meet them at alert, to meet them ready and to keep their faith up and not overcome. He added pray to the command in v41 because the info or Intel they would get from watching would make them need strengthening much as our Lord prayed and he was strengthened by an Angel, Luke 22:39-47. They slept instead of watching. How would they that could not withstand fatigue be able to withstand great trials of faith coming! Like the disciples, we are asleep and unable to withstand the trials coming upon the Church, hence, the need to wake, watch and pray now.}
Presentation
1 THE DIVINE COMMAND: WATCH AND PRAY
-As a non-negotiable lifestyle and spiritual responsibility
The Gospel accounts record Jesus' direct charge to stay alert and pray, since the timing of all things remains hidden
Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Also Matt 24:42; 25:13
Revelation 3:2-3 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
{Percy: If you are not watching, you are not truly praying! That we get caught unaware by enemies and dragged into sin and chaos implies we are not likely to make it with the LORD when He comes}
Paul echoes this clearly in the context of spiritual warfare, calling for unceasing prayer, perseverance, and vigilance on behalf of all believers (Eph. 6:18). Peter, with the end in view, calls for sober-mindedness and watchfulness in one's prayers (1 Peter 4:7). The letter to the Colossians insists on earnest, unwavering prayer paired with alertness and thanksgiving (Col. 4:2).
Watching is a spiritual responsibility. God requires His people to be both spiritually and physically alert, for the command to watch is non-negotiable in the face of a relentless enemy (1 Peter 5:8). Paul warns believers not to sleep like the rest of the world, but to stay awake and sober as children of the day (1 Thess. 5:4-8). The adversary roams like a lion, seeking the careless-those who have left gaps in their watch-not the vigilant (1 Peter 5:8; KJV; GNT). Wisdom herself blesses the one who waits daily at her gates, watching with patient readiness (Pro. 8:34). Jesus teaches that a master who knows the thief s hour would have watched; thus His own return demands unrelenting preparedness (Matt. 24:42-44). Finally, the prophet models the posture of standing on the rampart, watching for God's word and correction, rather than drifting into complacency (Habakkuk 2:1).
2 THE NEHEMIAH MODEL: PRAYER AND PRACTICAL SECURITY
The book of Nehemiah offers the clearest model of prayer and practical security working together: when threats arose, the people prayed to God and set a watch day and night (Neh. 4:9).
Nehemiah did not force a false choice between faith and action; he stationed armed guards at the weakest points of the wall while rallying the people to remember the Lord and fight for their families (Neh. 4:13-14). From then on, half the workers held spears and wore armour while the other half built-each builder kept a sword at his side, one hand on the tool and the other on the weapon (Neh. 4:16-18). A trumpet stood ready to sound the alarm, and the people knew: wherever they heard it, they would rally, for God Himself would fight for them (Neh. 4:20). They laboured from daybreak until the stars appeared, and even at night they remained in Jerusalem to serve as both guard and working party (Neh. 4:21-22). Thus, Nehemiah and his companions demonstrated that watchfulness is never passive-prayer and preparedness are two sides of the same biblical mandate.
3 GOD AS WATCHMAN, HUMAN VIGILANCE, AND THE COST OF CARELESSNESS
{Percy: The Biblical reference, “except the Lord watch over the city, the watchmen wake but in vain,” Ps 127:1, does not connote “not watching because the LORD is watching” but “watching with the LORD and in particular, watching what the LORD is watching”}
Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen labour in vain, yet He Himself appoints watchmen on the walls to work alongside His protection (Psalm 127:1; Isaiah 62:6). Jesus rebuked even His closest disciples for sleeping for just one hour, showing that spiritual carelessness leads to missed warnings and avoidable compromise (Matt. 26:40). True discernment recognises that our battle is not against flesh and blood, yet we must also be wise as serpents when facing physical threats (Eph. 6:12; Matt. 10:16). Faithful stewards in God's house protect lives, safeguard worship, and preserve order, for every servant is required to be trustworthy (1 Cor. 4:2; Matt. 24:45).
Practical watchfulness:
-Staying alert in prayer,
-Observing danger,
-Avoiding reckless conduct, -Maintaining discipline,
-And working heartily as unto the Lord
(Eph. 6:18; Pro. 22:3; Pro. 19:16;1 Cor. 14:40; Col. 3:23).
Prayer without watching remains incomplete, for incidents rarely stem from divine failure but from human negligence; therefore commit your works to the Lord, prepare your horse for battle, and trust Him for the outcome (Pro. 16:3; Pro. 21:31).
*CONCLUSION: THE SECURITY MANDATE*
The opposition to the gospel is real. Do not ignore it. Do not sleep through it. Nehemiah's command echoes across the ages: Pray-and post the watch. The charge to us is that we stay prayerful. Stay watchful. Stay disciplined. Stay alert. Blessed is the servant whom the Master finds doing exactly this (Matt. 24:46).
Prayer
Father, as we imbibe these security tips and generally watch with you, grant us safety in all our churches
Father, as many whose faith has been overrun and overcome by terrible trials or past Securuty breaches, visit afresh as you did to Simeon with other disciples and re- awake