Sifted By Satan

“Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” 

It says of Abraham, the Patriarch, in the New Testament, that he was “strong in faith.” But, when you read the account of his life, in the Old Testament, you will find he staggered all over the place. Yet the Scriptures say, “He staggered not…” The answer? He had a strong faith but a weak flesh. Weak vessels can house strong materials.

Peter was like this. His courage failed him but not his confidence in God. The devil’s desire was the “trying of his faith,” which he wrote about in his first Epistle, some years later. Of all the things Jesus could have prayed for in this man’s life, it was for his faith. Paul tells us of its preeminent place, when he says, “Above all…faith.” For without it, it is impossible to please God

Satan wanted to sift this saint in his sieve. He thought he would be the chaff that would fall to the floor, rather than the wheat that would stick to the sieve. He didn’t think Peter was the real thing, but he made the mistake, as he does with many of God’s children, of judging the book by its cover.

Christ’s intercession is not just general, but particular and personal. “I have prayed for thee.” Hallelujah! If no one else in this world prays for you today, you can be assured you have a Prayer Warrior interceding for you at the Father’s right hand.

by an Old Disciple

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