Prayed for by Name

Jesus tells Peter that Satan has demanded to sift him like wheat, and Peter has no idea yet how badly he is about to fail. Before the failure, before the denials by the fire, Jesus says something Peter must have replayed for years afterward. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Jesus does not promise Peter will not fall. He knows Peter will. What he promises is that he has already prayed, and that the prayer is not that Peter avoids the fall but that his faith survives it. There is a difference, and the difference is everything for a man who has fallen more times than he can bear to name.

And look what Jesus assumes about the far side of the failure. When you have turned again, he says, not if. The turning back is treated as certain, and past the turning there is a job waiting. Strengthen your brothers. The very man who fell hardest becomes the one who steadies others.

Whatever you did last night, Christ is praying for you now, and his prayer is not that you were perfect. It is that your faith holds and that you turn back, because there are men who will need what you learn on the way home.

Lord Jesus, thank you that you prayed for me before I ever failed you. Keep my faith from failing, turn me back to you again, and let my return be of use to another man someday.