Luke 22:31-34 NASB [31] “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; [32] but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” [33] But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” [34] And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”
On this holy Thursday, it is good to remember some of the events of that night and allow the Holy Spirit to minister deeply to our own souls. In this exchange with Peter, Jesus makes it very clear that Peter is going to fail. When Peter tried to deny that he would ever turn from Jesus, our Lord affirmed to him that he would deny Him three times. When Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail, He was not praying that Peter would not fail, but amid the failure, Jesus was praying that Peter would not get so discouraged and condemned that his faith would fail. Jesus is not shocked at the fact that those who follow him fail from time to time. As a matter of fact, Jesus assumes it, but Jesus knows that one of the great battles we fight is that if we fail, we will simply get up and start believing again. Actually, some of the greatest expressions of faith I’ve ever experienced have been those times when I really blew it and was able to still believe in the darkest moments that His love for me had not changed, and I could still get up and be the Fisher of men he has called me to be. Condemnation and discouragement are two of the enemy’s greatest weapons, and the warfare after we failed becomes much more intense than before we did. Jesus told Peter that he was praying that he would not lose faith amid his denial so that once he got up and started walking again, he could strengthen his brothers, who were all about to fail by abandoning Jesus in His darkest hour, too. Is there grace in our union with Christ to not sin; of course, there is, but there are those times when we do not celebrate that grace, and we fall. During those times, it is important that our faith doesn’t fail. Once we’ve gotten up again, we realize that Jesus doesn’t even waste our failures because now we are able to strengthen in a unique way all of our brothers and sisters who have shared the same experience and need to know not to give up. After all, Jesus has not given up on them.