I Have Prayed for You

I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail.  And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

Luke 22:32

On the night of Jesus’ last Passover supper with His disciples, He told them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, “I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.” Jesus knew that He would be betrayed and arrested that night, and knew all that He would be crucified the very next day. But He lovingly took the time to give Peter ahead of time a message he would desperately need to hear.

Jesus told Peter that before the rooster crowed the next morning, he would deny even knowing Jesus three times. Peter heroically responded immediately, “Lord, Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny You.” Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, and once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”  (I love the New Living translation of Jesus’ words: “So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”)

You may be very familiar with the story.  Jesus was betrayed and arrested that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was taken to the house of the high priest and spent the night being questioned by the Jewish authorities.  Peter was waiting in the courtyard, warming himself by the fire.  Three times during the night, he was recognized and accused of being with Jesus.  And three times Peter denied it, even cursing and swearing, saying he did not even know Jesus.  But when he heard the rooster crow in the morning, he remembered Jesus’ words, and he began to weep. His failure to keep his promise to the Lord he loved was devastating.

The words in Luke 22:32, that Jesus had prayed for Peter, are the words God spoke to my heart after my own devastating experience of turning away from Him.  You may have read my story before. After many years of knowing God and even teaching His Word, I turned away from Him and became involved in an affair that nearly destroyed my marriage. After several months of separation and planning to divorce, God called me back home.   But I’m thinking a lot about faith now as I am currently writing Bible studies from the book of Psalms.  I’m reminded again of God’s words to Peter that are so precious to me.  The Lord had prayed for me, as He had for Peter, that my faith would not fail.  And when I turned back to Him, I knew I was forgiven.  I knew He still loved me.  His love, His grace, His mercy, His power to change my heart and my marriage have created an unshakeable foundation of trust in my Lord.

I received the words Jesus spoke to Peter as His words to me: “When you have returned to Me, strengthen your brothers” (and I always add “sisters!”).  God could have set me aside as useless.  But He called me back to Himself, restored me, as He restored Peter, and He has given me a ministry of encouraging others by writing and leading women’s Bible studies and weekly devotional messages.

Romans 8:34 tells us that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us! I believe He is praying for us that our faith will not fail.  He knows the temptations we will face, and He has given His followers all that we need to resist those temptations as we trust Him and depend on His Holy Spirit living in us to strengthen us. And when we fall, He is there to hear our cry for help, and He will deliver us. 

Psalm 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

Can you identify with Peter in his failure?

Will you choose to receive God’s loving words of forgiveness and restoration, knowing that He prays for you?

How do you respond to the knowledge that He is praying for you?

You may want to write a prayer expressing your heart.