I Have Prayed for You

I Have Prayed For You

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Luke 22: 31-32

Have you ever wondered what is the root cause of so much of the upheavals in your life? Beyond that, do you wonder at times, what is the purpose of these upheavals? Certainly these are perplexing questions. The circumstances that provoke them are upsetting and mysterious. Yet to the One whose Sovereign Hand is over them, there is nothing mysterious at all.

Christ offers to Peter, at least one possibility, which in turn can shed light onto our case, at least at times. Christ would have us understand that, Satan, our great enemy is against us. If we are Christ’s, Satan most definitely wants to destroy our faith. He desires to ‘sift you as wheat.’ We are not alone in this matter. He has ‘sifted’ many saints of the past. Job, Joseph, David and Peter, as we find him here, are all examples of Satan’s bitter hatred of God’s elect. Having said that, Christ is more for us than Satan is against us. That is a bold statement. For as much as we can feel the pressure of the sifting, how much more should we experience and realize the precious truth that Christ is far more for us!

How much, exactly, is Christ of us? Christ is so much for us that He, ‘being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ There is no hatred that is stronger than this love. Moreover, Christ tells Peter that He has ‘prayed’ for him. What Christ was praying for was that Peter’s faith would not fail. Although Peter stumbled, His faith did not utterly fail. Beyond that, Christ indicates that Peter’s greatest usefulness was ahead of him. After his spiritual restoration, he was to ‘strengthen (his) brethren.’ The first 12 chapters of the Book of Acts are the evidence of the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy. Christ went out of His way to restore Peter in John 21. Christ never gives up on His people. If not on Peter, then not on you.

Our Great and Loving Savior
We rejoice that You effectually
Intercede for us

Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice