More thoughts on prayer

A couple days ago, I posted about prayer being a mystery to me. Well here I am today in Mark 14, and more questions of prayer arise.

First Jesus tells all the disciples they will fall away, and that Peter will disown Jesus 3 times, before the rooster crows. Then a couple verses later Jesus tells Peter, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

What would happen is Peter actually took Jesus advice, stayed up the rest of the night praying with Jesus, that he would not fall away. Would he have still fallen, and denied Jesus as prophecied, or would God have helped him to stay strong.

I guess the nature of prophecy is that God knows what is going to happen and it happens. But then why would Jesus tell Peter to pray? Patronizing him? I don't think that is the tone here. It seems like a plea from Jesus to his friend to stay up with him, and pray that they might remain strong.

I wonder how acts would read differently if Peter had made that one decision to pray. His falling away was a defining moment of his life. hmmmm.