When Jesus Prays
I use to think Peter was really privileged to have had Jesus personally pray for him in Luke 22 until I remembered that Jesus also prayed for me personally, well kinda, in John 17. Anyway as I was fascinated by Jesus personally praying for one of his disciples, I was intrigued by what He prayed.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32
There’s so much to go by in these two verses. Firstly, the fact that Satan asked. This conforms with what we learn from Job’s story, that as much as Satan desires to do harm to the righteous, he can’t without God’s permission (see Job 1:9-12). It also goes hand in hand with what Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (emphasis mine) This verse lets us in on how God ‘lets’ us be tempted (because he’ll let it happen, for various reasons we’ll explore some other time): in measurement with what we can bear. And don’t be fooled here thinking that God is speaking about my natural strength to bear temptation, He knows us to well, we proved ourselves in Genesis 3. He’s speaking based on the power we receive from Him…that’s why I sometimes feel overwhelmed in the midst of trials and temptations, but this happens when I stop relying on God’s power.
If I was Peter, I was going to stop Jesus in His tracks, and be like, ‘Lord say no, don’t let him!’ I was going to remind Jesus that the thief that Satan is doesn’t come unless he plans to kill, steal and destroy, he shouldn’t be granted access! ‘Didn’t you hear his request? He wants to sift us like wheat! Say no Lord’ But my blood pressure goes down when I read what Jesus says next, he says he prayed, so I calm down, it’s all good. Even if Satan has been granted permission, he won’t possible do anything if Jesus prayed for Peter. That’s until I read what he prayed! Why didn’t He just pray the temptation away? Because that way Peter was never going to grow. According to James 1:3-4, the testing of our faith develops perseverance which must finish its work so that we’ll be mature and complete. If God chases our battles away, we’ll never mature.
The instruction Jesus ends with sent my mind spiralling. If You’ve prayed for his faith to not fail, why is there a talk of turning back? If your prayer worked, shouldn’t he have not turned away in the first place? Nope, not according to Jesus. In His eyes, he’s faith would have proven strong if he turned back after turning way. That’s amazing, to me anyway, because I always feel defeated and like the scum of the earth every time I crawl back to God after having denied God (in more ways than just claiming that I didn’t know Him.) Maybe this is why the proverb warns against raiding the house of the righteous because ‘though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again’ (Proverbs 24:15-16).
On top of all this, my heart was touched that it related to Peter who’d eventually become the leader among the apostles. God allowed a great leader like him to know what it was to turn his back against God, so that he’d know what to do with church members like me. John 21 is one of my all-time favourite Scriptures. It brings me to tears each time I read it, seeing how Jesus relates everything to our love for him. Everything revolves around love in this beautiful treasure that has been penned down for us. The strength of Peter’s faith faced its final test when his love for God was questioned. That’s at the bottom of every trial and temptation you face…do you love Him enough to stay? And when you fall, do you love Him enough to come back?
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32
There’s so much to go by in these two verses. Firstly, the fact that Satan asked. This conforms with what we learn from Job’s story, that as much as Satan desires to do harm to the righteous, he can’t without God’s permission (see Job 1:9-12). It also goes hand in hand with what Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (emphasis mine) This verse lets us in on how God ‘lets’ us be tempted (because he’ll let it happen, for various reasons we’ll explore some other time): in measurement with what we can bear. And don’t be fooled here thinking that God is speaking about my natural strength to bear temptation, He knows us to well, we proved ourselves in Genesis 3. He’s speaking based on the power we receive from Him…that’s why I sometimes feel overwhelmed in the midst of trials and temptations, but this happens when I stop relying on God’s power.
If I was Peter, I was going to stop Jesus in His tracks, and be like, ‘Lord say no, don’t let him!’ I was going to remind Jesus that the thief that Satan is doesn’t come unless he plans to kill, steal and destroy, he shouldn’t be granted access! ‘Didn’t you hear his request? He wants to sift us like wheat! Say no Lord’ But my blood pressure goes down when I read what Jesus says next, he says he prayed, so I calm down, it’s all good. Even if Satan has been granted permission, he won’t possible do anything if Jesus prayed for Peter. That’s until I read what he prayed! Why didn’t He just pray the temptation away? Because that way Peter was never going to grow. According to James 1:3-4, the testing of our faith develops perseverance which must finish its work so that we’ll be mature and complete. If God chases our battles away, we’ll never mature.
The instruction Jesus ends with sent my mind spiralling. If You’ve prayed for his faith to not fail, why is there a talk of turning back? If your prayer worked, shouldn’t he have not turned away in the first place? Nope, not according to Jesus. In His eyes, he’s faith would have proven strong if he turned back after turning way. That’s amazing, to me anyway, because I always feel defeated and like the scum of the earth every time I crawl back to God after having denied God (in more ways than just claiming that I didn’t know Him.) Maybe this is why the proverb warns against raiding the house of the righteous because ‘though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again’ (Proverbs 24:15-16).
On top of all this, my heart was touched that it related to Peter who’d eventually become the leader among the apostles. God allowed a great leader like him to know what it was to turn his back against God, so that he’d know what to do with church members like me. John 21 is one of my all-time favourite Scriptures. It brings me to tears each time I read it, seeing how Jesus relates everything to our love for him. Everything revolves around love in this beautiful treasure that has been penned down for us. The strength of Peter’s faith faced its final test when his love for God was questioned. That’s at the bottom of every trial and temptation you face…do you love Him enough to stay? And when you fall, do you love Him enough to come back?
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