Luke 22 - Gee, Thanks

Jesus takes Peter aside and lays some hard truth on him. Satan had asked to "sift him as wheat," which really sounds terrible. Luckily for Simon, Jesus had intervened in prayer. If Jesus was praying, you should be covered, right? The only problem is that Jesus tells Peter specifically what he prayed,"that your faith may not fail."

Wait, what?

Where is the prayer for safety and protection?

Where was "I bind you Satan" and all that?

Jesus doesn't pray for Peter's safety or his protection or even for him to be delivered from evil. Jesus could have prayed these things, and they would have worked. He could have protected Peter from every evil in the world, but that wasn't his choice. He prays that when Peter faces this evil, when he is sifted, that his faith will not fail. Peter needed to be sifted. He needed to be tested. He needed to be made stronger so he could face the assignment ahead of him.

We aren't any different. We need to be sifted too.

Why do we run from it?

Why do we try to shield others from it?

That's not what Jesus would do.