Are You Ready for Easter?

March 30, 2026

Jesus knew exactly what was coming. At Caesarea Philippi He began to tell His disciples plainly that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised to life. Peter immediately took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:21-23). Even His closest friends were not ready for what was about to happen.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see the critical role of prayer. Jesus prayed in agony while His disciples slept. When He returned and found them sleeping, He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you men keep watch with Me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40-41). When it came time, the disciples were not ready for the suffering. They were not ready for the fear. They were not ready for the denial. They were not ready for the cross. They were not ready because they had not prayed, they were caught completely unprepared when the moment of trial came.

Jesus, on the other hand, was ready. He had prayed. He had submitted. And when the time came, the Son of God allowed them to torture Him so severely that He could not even carry His own cross. Think about that for a moment. The man who walked on water, calmed the storm with a word, healed the sick, and fed thousands with a few loaves and fish was now so weakened by the scourging that He stumbled under the weight of His cross. The One who had all power, chose to lay it down so that we could be saved.

The disciples were not ready for Easter either. They forgot that Jesus had told them He would rise on the third day. They forgot the prophecies spoken hundreds of years earlier by Isaiah about the Suffering Servant. They forgot what the prophets had said the Messiah would endure. They were not ready because they had not prayed.

Prayer is the doorway through which God comes close to us and we come close to God. Prayer is how God knows He can trust us with His power. He cannot trust us if our hearts are filled with arrogance or self-will. In prayer God searches our hearts to see how we are going to use our free will. In prayer He teaches us to trust Him with everything. In prayer He prepares us to obey Him in all things. Prayer is what makes us ready for Easter. Prayer is what makes us ready to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

What do you expect to happen in your life because of Easter? Do you expect the same old routine, or do you expect resurrection power to touch your marriage, your family, your fears, and your future? Paul understood this power. Even though God had warned him that suffering awaited him in Jerusalem, Paul still asked the Roman Christians to pray for him. He wrote, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30). Paul knew that prayer opens the floodgates of God’s mercy and prepares us for whatever lies ahead.

This Easter, the question is simple: Are you ready? Have you been praying? Have you been spending time with the Lord so that when the moment of testing or the moment of resurrection joy comes, you are not caught sleeping? The disciples missed the full wonder of the resurrection because they were not ready. Let us not make the same mistake.

In what area of your life are you currently “asleep” and not praying as you should? What do you expect God to do in your life this Easter because of prayer? How has prayer prepared you for a difficult time in the past? This week, what specific time will you set aside to pray and get ready for Easter?

This Holy Week make time to pray. Ask the Lord to search your heart. Ask Him to prepare you for whatever He has for you. Ask Him to fill you with the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead. When Easter morning comes, may you be ready, not just to celebrate, but to live in the power of the risen Christ. (To learn more about Al Earley or read previous articles, see www.lagrangepres.org. You can purchase my book, My Faith Journal, at Amazon.com, a compilation of 366 articles as a daily devotional. Check out my podcast on YouTube, called “My Faith Journey”).