Following the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, He gathered His disciples in the upper room to celebrate The Passover. As evening drew near, the disciples faithfully observed this ancient tradition.
Focused on their religious obligation, the disciples were unaware of the gathering storm of spiritual confrontation that was quickly approaching them. Jesus was not caught off guard by it. He was prepared for it.
The mission of Jesus Christ was to confront and defeat the enemy, not to avoid conflict. Prayer was His mighty weapon of warfare. He wielded it from early in the morning, throughout the day, and long into the night. He prayed to sustain His uninterrupted intimacy with His Father, but He also interceded for His disciples to be strengthened in their faith. He still does.
Never forget this. Satan is under the authority of Jesus Christ. Our relentless enemy has no respect for Christ’s authority nonetheless he is subject to it. Asking permission to sift Peter like wheat was not made in the form of a polite request. Satan made a rebel’s demand for Christ to turn Peter over to him for trial and torture.
“Satan has asked permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32
Jesus allowed Satan to have a measure of jurisdiction over Peter, not to punish him, but to purify him. Peter was set aside for great usefulness, and his natural leadership and contagious courage had caught the eye of the evil one.
Spiritual Warfare is not hard to understand. Satan knows if he can take down a leader in battle, the others will lose their heart for the fight.
Perhaps the most deceitful part of Spiritual Warfare is the enemy’s strategy to attack you at the point of your strengths, not your weaknesses. Peter was a courageous leader, but he was prone to putting more trust in his own opinion than listening to Jesus. His leadership was based on style over substance. Jesus was about to change all that.
Jesus warned Peter about the impending sifting, but he assured Peter with, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.”
Sifting suggests a filtering process. Testing is the filtering mechanism. There was a great deal of Peter that needed to be sifted before he became a man of substance. Expect to be tested.
The East African women prepare corn meal by placing it in a wooden container and pounding the living daylights out of it with a huge wooden post. The process resembles the proverbial pestle and mortar used by a pharmacist to prepare medication. The pulverized meal is placed it in a shallow woven basket. The meal is tossed into the air repeatedly, catching the grain and separating it from the gravel and chaff that clings to it. The meal is not prepared for serving to others until the corn is separated from the chaff.
NOTE TO SELF: Purification is a part of the strengthening process. Jesus intends to allow sifting to take place in your life. Don’t treasure your style over His substance. When your life is sifted, don’t receive it as condemnation, use if for purification. Let go of anything that cools your love for His will, and fuels your love for your will. Jesus still prays for you to know the difference. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
By Dr. Gary Don Miller