Push Until the Hour of Breakthrough

There is a moment in the life of Jesus when He went with three of His disciples up into a mountain to pray with them. These are the same disciples who went with Him to the Mount of Transfiguration, meaning that they understood that moments with Jesus were not ordinary moments; they were moments of encounters. Yet in this moment, when they went up again, they were tired, and they began to sleep. What is strange is that Peter was a fisherman, and Peter, being a fisherman, was used to spending the whole night awake watching over his boats. So what could it be about that specific atmosphere that made Peter sleep? It was not merely that Peter was exhausted; the atmosphere was heavy. Jesus even acknowledged the spiritual pressure of that moment, saying, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). Whenever you are about to enter a season of transition (Change), there is always a heaviness in the atmosphere, because the enemy wants to discourage you so that you will not push for your breakthrough.

I once read the story of Thomas Edison, who attempted over a thousand experiments in the process of trying to invent the lightbulb. When asked about his failures, he famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Imagine if, on the 9999th attempt, Edison had given up. Would we have had the lightbulb? Possibly, someone else could have invented it later, but it would not have been Edison. He would have surrendered his breakthrough because he failed to try one more time. There is always a heavy force that enters an atmosphere just before breakthrough. There is always a pressure that makes you feel like, “I can’t do it anymore” or “I can’t push anymore.” Scripture warns us about this moment: “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). The key to reaping is not simply effort, but endurance.

Jesus confronted His disciples with this same reality when He said, “Could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40). Many have taken this to mean that Jesus was prescribing a minimum of one hour of prayer, but when He later said, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand” (Matthew 26:45), He was clearly speaking of a moment, a season, an appointed time — not sixty minutes. The “hour” was a season of spiritual transition, a window of prophetic significance. Prayer is not governed by duration but by persistence until breakthrough. Many believers have never pushed until the hour of breakthrough. Many have never pushed until the hour of increase or the hour of transition. There is always a defining moment, but many quit on the 999th attempt and never reach the thousandth.

Jesus added, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Spiritual discouragement is not always a sign of personal weakness; it is often a sign that breakthrough is close. There is a reason why just before dawn it is always the darkest. Just before breakthrough there is always resistance. Scripture reminds us, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Morning does not simply arrive — it must be endured toward.

Many people today are tired. Many are feeling lost. Many feel like saying, “I can’t do it anymore.” But this is the very season when, if you would tarry for just “one hour,” for just this moment, you would find yourself walking into greater breakthrough. God declared, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?” (Isaiah 43:19). The question is not whether God will do it; the question is whether you will stay awake long enough to see it.

This is a season of great increase. This is a season of great breakthrough. My prayer for you is that you will not give up. You may be in your 9999th moment, but God is calling you to push one more time. The disciples fell asleep in the very moment that would define their destiny, not because they were lazy, but because the atmosphere was heavy with transition. Do not surrender your hour to exhaustion, discouragement, or delay. Watch for just one more moment. Push one more time. Pray one more time. Breakthrough is your portion