"But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." - Luke 22:32
At the risk of entering hyperbolic territory, I have to start this blog post by saying this single verse of scripture has changed my life. My growing understanding of the deeper meanings behind this verse has begun a reprogramming of my expectations and thought processes about God and how He operates in the lives of His children. All of the truths about the Potter's vessel perfecting process that I have learned and am still learning are encapsulated in this single verse of scripture.
Understand that when I first caught a glimpse of the depths this verse contained, I was on the precipice of total self destruction. I was a burned out pastor fighting severe depression and a growing faithlessness in God and His Word that was about to envelop my life and negatively affect every decision I was about to make for me and my family. As my life as I knew it began to unravel in front of my disbelieving eyes, I was convinced I had been forsaken and abandoned by the God I had committed to serve for the rest of my life.
What I was completely blinded to was just how much I had in common with Simon Peter in Luke 22:32
Understand that when I first caught a glimpse of the depths this verse contained, I was on the precipice of total self destruction. I was a burned out pastor fighting severe depression and a growing faithlessness in God and His Word that was about to envelop my life and negatively affect every decision I was about to make for me and my family. As my life as I knew it began to unravel in front of my disbelieving eyes, I was convinced I had been forsaken and abandoned by the God I had committed to serve for the rest of my life.
What I was completely blinded to was just how much I had in common with Simon Peter in Luke 22:32
We return to the upper room. Jesus has focused his attention onto Simon Peter and informed him of Satan's desire to 'sift [Simon] like wheat'. Sifting, if you don't already know, is an agricultural word that basically means "separating". In the case of wheat, the sifting process is a violent means of separating the wheat kernels from the stalks. I could elaborate further but really all you need to know about sifting is if Satan had suggested it for Simon Peter, it wasn't going to be pleasant.
Jesus informs his hard-headed servant that His response to Satan's request is a prayer for Simon Peter.
A prayer.
A prayer from Jesus.
A prayer from Jesus for Simon...
...and that's it.
Let me put this a different way: Like Job, Satan asked for permission to destroy one of the Potter's vessels. Like Job's story, God's response to that request is the exact opposite of what we would expect from our "good Heavenly Father".
Jesus' response wasn't a "NO! You can't have him, Satan!"
Peter's 'Mighty Fortress' didn't say, "Get thee behind me, Satan! Simon's MINE!"
Simon didn't even get a "Sorry, he's about to be pretty busy feeding my sheep" or any variations on those themes.
Jesus' response to Satan's desire for Simon Peter is a prayer.
A prayer from Jesus.
A prayer from Jesus for Simon...
...and that's it.
Let me put this a different way: Like Job, Satan asked for permission to destroy one of the Potter's vessels. Like Job's story, God's response to that request is the exact opposite of what we would expect from our "good Heavenly Father".
Jesus' response wasn't a "NO! You can't have him, Satan!"
Peter's 'Mighty Fortress' didn't say, "Get thee behind me, Satan! Simon's MINE!"
Simon didn't even get a "Sorry, he's about to be pretty busy feeding my sheep" or any variations on those themes.
Jesus' response to Satan's desire for Simon Peter is a prayer.
I'm not going to lie. My initial reaction to Jesus' response to Satan was a faithless eye roll. I mean, you and I both know one of the most overused cliches in all of Christiandom is the time-tested "I'll pray for you" when a very real and present danger encroaches upon a fellow believer. God knows I've used that cliche thousands of times as a very righteous sounding way of expressing my utter helplessness in an undesired situation. I'm not saying this cliche is inherently evil or even wrong, but I know I'm not the only one who has said "I'll pray for you" and then conveniently moved on with my life without uttering a single prayer for the individual.
But, we're talking about Jesus. Obviously when Jesus says "I have prayed for you" there is a great deal of weight behind it. I mean who else would you want taking your needs and desires before the throne of God than the Son of God Himself? So while the phrase "I have prayed for you" may be marinated in powerless drippings of cliche, when Jesus is the one praying, that's a game changer, isn't it?
So, my next question then is what did Jesus pray for specifically? I mean if Jesus is praying instead of just telling Satan where to go and how to get there, then the prayer itself must involve some form of powerful protection from this satanic sifting process, right? Surely Jesus' prayer for his beloved disciple would be along the lines of Job's 'hedge of protection' or a legion of angels ready to ruin Satan's day or maybe that flaming sword that protected the Tree of Life in Eden or maybe just a surly guardian angel with a wicked left hook. Any or all of those things would be awesome things for Jesus to pray for in the face of an imminent satanic attack.
But Jesus doesn't pray for those things. What Jesus DOES pray for seems generic and powerless in comparison to the situation. Jesus informs Simon that he has prayed for his faith not to fail. When I read that, my heart sank. Because of my emotional condition at the time, I needed some kind of reassurance that my rock and my fortress was going to fight for me. I needed a Biblical example of the King of Kings taking the battle to the enemy and saving his chosen vessels from misery and pain.
Instead I got Job's story of suffering and anguish. All I could find were scriptures talking about the suffering of the saints or examples of God's seeming impotence in the face of Satan's real-time attacks. When I needed God to knock down walls and send plagues against my enemies, all I got was Jesus praying for Peter's faith not to fail.
Not only did Jesus pray for Simon Peter's faith not to fail, he makes an incredible statement that is a mixture of prophecy and instruction for Peter.
He says, "...and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
Jesus knew Peter's path. The Son of God already foresaw the decisions Peter was about to make. On this night of nights with the weight of the world literally sitting on Jesus Christ's shoulders, the savior of the world takes a moment to inform Simon Peter that not only is Satan coming for him, the enemy would, for a time, succeed in separating him from his Master.
There is no judgement in Jesus' statement. Christ is not speaking to Simon as an angry parent to a disobedient child. He is simply informing his disciple that he is about to spend some time in Satan's sifter with God's blessings.
Do you see what I see?
There are some fundamental truths about the Potter's process in this verse that will absolutely transform your thinking about God's ways and means.
Truth #1 - Like Job, God has no problem allowing Satan access to his 'vessels' for the purpose of 'sifting' us.
Truth #2 - Generally speaking, we don't respond well when God does this.
Truth #3 - God understands the potential value of everything that happens to us while we're in Satan's sifter, including our rebellious decisions.
Truth #4 - The purpose of our time in Satan's Sifter is to get us to the place where we can be used of God to 'strengthen the brethren'.
Allow me to repeat myself here. God will use everything in his considerable power to conform and transform us from self-willed, self-governed Simons, Sauls, and Marthas into Spirit-led, Spirit-filled Peters, Pauls, and Marys...including use Satan to 'sift us like wheat'.
Jesus knew Simon was headed for some dark times of suffering in Satan's sifter. He knew Simon would deny him, forsake him, and all but disappear from the Biblical narrative during Christ's crucifixion. Jesus knew every single thing Simon would do while in Satan's sifter and not only was he not angry or upset about it, he knew Simon would 'return to [Him]' as a transformed man ready to 'strengthen his brethren'.
Do you understand that there is absolutely nothing we can do that will surprise God? No matter how selfish and evil we may act, there is nothing we can do that will shock God or cause Him to react in anger toward our sins. Yes, God hates sin. But I think we need to understand exactly WHY God hates sin so much.
It should probably not surprise you by now that God's reasons for hating sin and ours are somewhat different...
NEXT: SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF A PERFECT GOD
So, my next question then is what did Jesus pray for specifically? I mean if Jesus is praying instead of just telling Satan where to go and how to get there, then the prayer itself must involve some form of powerful protection from this satanic sifting process, right? Surely Jesus' prayer for his beloved disciple would be along the lines of Job's 'hedge of protection' or a legion of angels ready to ruin Satan's day or maybe that flaming sword that protected the Tree of Life in Eden or maybe just a surly guardian angel with a wicked left hook. Any or all of those things would be awesome things for Jesus to pray for in the face of an imminent satanic attack.
But Jesus doesn't pray for those things. What Jesus DOES pray for seems generic and powerless in comparison to the situation. Jesus informs Simon that he has prayed for his faith not to fail. When I read that, my heart sank. Because of my emotional condition at the time, I needed some kind of reassurance that my rock and my fortress was going to fight for me. I needed a Biblical example of the King of Kings taking the battle to the enemy and saving his chosen vessels from misery and pain.
Instead I got Job's story of suffering and anguish. All I could find were scriptures talking about the suffering of the saints or examples of God's seeming impotence in the face of Satan's real-time attacks. When I needed God to knock down walls and send plagues against my enemies, all I got was Jesus praying for Peter's faith not to fail.
Not only did Jesus pray for Simon Peter's faith not to fail, he makes an incredible statement that is a mixture of prophecy and instruction for Peter.
He says, "...and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
Jesus knew Peter's path. The Son of God already foresaw the decisions Peter was about to make. On this night of nights with the weight of the world literally sitting on Jesus Christ's shoulders, the savior of the world takes a moment to inform Simon Peter that not only is Satan coming for him, the enemy would, for a time, succeed in separating him from his Master.
There is no judgement in Jesus' statement. Christ is not speaking to Simon as an angry parent to a disobedient child. He is simply informing his disciple that he is about to spend some time in Satan's sifter with God's blessings.
Do you see what I see?
There are some fundamental truths about the Potter's process in this verse that will absolutely transform your thinking about God's ways and means.
Truth #1 - Like Job, God has no problem allowing Satan access to his 'vessels' for the purpose of 'sifting' us.
Truth #2 - Generally speaking, we don't respond well when God does this.
Truth #3 - God understands the potential value of everything that happens to us while we're in Satan's sifter, including our rebellious decisions.
Truth #4 - The purpose of our time in Satan's Sifter is to get us to the place where we can be used of God to 'strengthen the brethren'.
Allow me to repeat myself here. God will use everything in his considerable power to conform and transform us from self-willed, self-governed Simons, Sauls, and Marthas into Spirit-led, Spirit-filled Peters, Pauls, and Marys...including use Satan to 'sift us like wheat'.
Jesus knew Simon was headed for some dark times of suffering in Satan's sifter. He knew Simon would deny him, forsake him, and all but disappear from the Biblical narrative during Christ's crucifixion. Jesus knew every single thing Simon would do while in Satan's sifter and not only was he not angry or upset about it, he knew Simon would 'return to [Him]' as a transformed man ready to 'strengthen his brethren'.
Do you understand that there is absolutely nothing we can do that will surprise God? No matter how selfish and evil we may act, there is nothing we can do that will shock God or cause Him to react in anger toward our sins. Yes, God hates sin. But I think we need to understand exactly WHY God hates sin so much.
It should probably not surprise you by now that God's reasons for hating sin and ours are somewhat different...
NEXT: SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF A PERFECT GOD
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