THE LORD'S PRAYER

Luke 22:32a "...but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not..."

I have grown quite accustomed to hearing from people that during their Bible reading, they came across a passage that they just had not realized was there prior to that moment. Oh, it was there alright but for whatever reason, there was a failure to notice those choice words. The quote I opened with is one of those passages of "choice" words pregnant with application.

These words were spoken by our Lord to Peter the night before the crucifixion during what we sometimes call, the Upper Room Discourse. I am ever awed that our Lord spent so much of that time focusing on the 12 Disciples as opposed to his own personal suffering. I know that in my flesh, I would have been more worried/concerned about the suffering to be endured than the failures of others. And also in my flesh, I would have been just a tad angry over the fact that the one I was about to die for was about to deny me. Hallelujah! What a wonderful Savior!

Now to my specific point in addressing this issue. Jesus had already prayed for Peter. Such words in the context of distress would usually bring comfort but Peter in his arrogance/pride did not see the need for such, though I am quite sure that these words came back to him as great comfort. But Jesus had not just prayed a general prayer(Lord bless him) for Peter. He was specific in his prayer for Peter, that Peter's faith would not fail. Not Thomas' faith, not Matthew's faith, not John's faith but Peter's faith. Why had he prayed such for Peter? Because Satan was looking for one to devour and he had desired that Peter would be that very one.

Allow me just a line or two for speculative thinking. What would have been the outcome had Jesus not prayed for Peter? Would Satan have been successful in crushing the wheat into powder during the sifting process? Would Peter have been dealt such a blow that he would have never recovered? But the Lord HAD prayed for Peter and though the time of sifting would come, it would be just the chaff of Peter that fell by the wayside not the wheat germ itself. Our Lord's prayer had been answered.

Simple question and the point of this post. For whom have you prayed to defend them against the enemy?