My Great Prayer Warrior

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." - Luke 22:31-32

Jesus is praying for me. Think about that. The God of the universe, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Creator of all things is praying for me. Robert Murray McCheyne a 19th century Scottish minister and theologion wrote, "If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” What fear do we have with such an ally? What hope! What power!

However, the terrifying part of this passage to my fallen nature is that Jesus prays His will for us and not our own wills. If Jesus told me, "Matt, Satan has demanded to lay hold of you that he might tear you apart," I would expect him to say, "But I have prayed that Satan would not lay hold of you." Instead He says, "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail." Instead of protecting us from evil and pain, Jesus prays for us through evil and pain.

At first this seems harsh, even maniacal, but on closer inspection the love and purposes of God can be seen in all their beauty. If Jesus simply protected us from all temptations and pain, I would never understand my need for Him and turn to Him as my hope. Also, he prays for my faith... He sees the long run when I can only see and fear the present. He prays for my trust in Him and my delight in Him through my trials, so that one day with him I will truly be free of all pain and suffering forever. That is true hope.

With that truth I can pray boldly for the things in my life: for my RUF internship, for support to come in, for all the trials in my life... and not have any fear. Because even if all those things I hope in and pray for fail, He is still by my side praying for me and abiding with me.

So what do we do with this knowledge? When we have come out of the fires of life, being burned in the refining fire, we can approach others in their pain, drawing along side them with the hope that Jesus is praying for them too. That His ways, though strange and hard at times, are good and that He is drawing us to something greater than our earthly comfort. Himself.