Jesus is Praying for Us

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

Jesus, speaking to Peter, knew that Peter would deny Him when the going got tough. But he also knew that Peter had a tender heart and a desire to serve Him. The fullness of the Holy Spirit and the work He was to do had yet to be released. Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will purify, fill, and empower the followers of Jesus to be a witness that would turn the world upside down. As determined as Peter was, fear gripped his heart, and he feared for his life when the pressure was on. Jesus knew that Peter would “drop the ball” and his faith would falter. Our humanity, without the grace of God, is so prone to fail. Jesus prayed for Peter that even in times when trails come, and we fail, that we do not have to quit and give up. Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God, is interceding for us even now. When Satan is doing all he can to shake us up and cause us to cast our faith away, Jesus is praying that we hold on and trust God who will find a way of escape. We sometimes come through the battle beaten up and sometimes wounded, but our faith in Jesus can remain true. It is good to have friends pray for us, and we are encouraged that our brothers and sisters in the Lord are praying, but to know that Jesus is praying for us, and His prayers are sure to reach the throne of God. If the cock crows in your life, don’t give up; turn to Jesus, who is praying that your faith will not fail.

Failure to Believe

Luke 1:20 …because thou believest not my words,…

Failure to believe God sometimes has dire consequences. For Zacharias, it was going speechless, for Peter in was sinking into the water, and for Moses it was not being able to enter into the promise land. The spectrum of unbelief is only know by God who knows the heart of man. How often have we come to the threshold of trusting God and fail to walk on the water. Fear of the unknown, fear of being wrong, and fear what others may say or think. The failure to believe is the inability to trust God and cast away fear. Fear is the enemy of believing. Let us cast away fear by embracing God’s love. For Love will cast out fear, and when fear is God, believing is made possible. 

Fear Them Not

Num. 13:9 neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.

Don’t let a fearful situation keep you from moving forward. We daily face things in our lives that we really don’t want to do. Fear has many faces. The fear of failure, rejections, embarrassment, even the fear of losing our life. In situations were our life is at risk, we obviously want to make sure that we are going forward knowing the will of God. 

Just Do It!

1 Chor 28:20…Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, …

“Just Do It” Taking on new challenges can be exciting, but also a time of trepidation to think of the possibility of failure. Crossing new bridges not knowing what life will bring us on the other side. Going forward, and entering into a new transition of life does not have to be scary. If we know that God is leading, and He is brazing the trail before us, we can hold on to His promises that He will give us the strength and courage to just do it! Life is always changing and sometime those changes are out of our control. We approach each change trusting God to guide and direct our steps. Taking those steps of faith, will not always be easy, but He will not leave us or fail us if we step out in faith and just do it!

Overtaken in a Fault

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

In a moment of weakness, Satan will take advantage of our failure to stay close to God. We have not arrived yet, and we all are subject to the temptations that beset us. Even those that are spiritual are not exempt from temptation and from the potential of being overtaken by sin. We all have our faults and shortcomings, but Paul is not speaking of inability to live perfect human lives. Overtaken in a fault is to succumb to Satan’s enticements to go contrary to what God wants. God’s desire is that we sin not, and we all have a choice to follow that command even in times of weakness. But, we must not allow a wrong choice to cause us to give up and quit serving God. Being spiritual or set apart to live a holy life should be the desire and drive of our life, but it does not immune us from failure. God is also in the restoration business. He cares about us and will not leave us in our failure. In the spirit of meekness, let us consider how we can help others stay connected or help to reconnect to a God who gives grace to all that reach out to Him. 

Walking on Water

Mat 14:29 “And He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.“- 

One of the greatest fears to overcome is failure. Most of us are afraid to step out on the water because past experience had shown us that we will sink. We look at the situation and know that stepping out of our comfort zone will surely cause us misfortune. What will people think? When we step out for God, it may not be the popular thing to do. We need to come out of the boat and step out in faith and start believing God to do the impossible. Peter started out in faith, but started to look around and became afraid. It is not uncommon for our faith to start to falter when we see that things are looking bad. The mist that is blowing in front of us obscures our vision of Jesus and we begin to lose focus. Peter did the right things and called out to Jesus when he began to feel his feet plunge beneath the water. God wants our faith to grow, but it is not able to grow unless we take the first step to trust God. In the human, we may succumb to failures and setbacks, but we can’t let the winds and waves around us keep us from calling out to God. He is ready to reach down and pick up right back up. In the sinking waters, He will lift me up, and cause me to walk on water. With God, all things are possible.

Failing God

John 18:25 “And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, “Art not thou also one of his disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”-

Failure is tough to deal with. The pressure to meet expectations are sometimes too demanding. We are so human oriented in our efforts to accomplish our goals and aspirations. Peter had every intention when he started out to follow Jesus, and stand with Him all the way. But, Peter could not deal with the fear of man and dropped the ball. Jesus knew that Peter had a heart that desired to serve, but also knew that Peter had a weakness that needed to be dealt with. Failure is not a necessary competent of the Christian life, but without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the experience of full surrender to the will of God, failure is inevitable. But, failure does not have to be fatal. God is a God of second, and third chances. To the heart that is sincere, God will not fail. He loves us too much to let us stay down. He reaches down to where we are, forgiving us, and bringing us out of our despair. It is not God’s plan that we fail Him, He wants to help us to be overcomers and have victory in our life everyday. After Peter experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Peter was never the same. He put his full trust in God and was able to cast all his cares on Him. God is able to use the fallibility of  man like Peter, and give him the power of God to live holy and righteous all the days of his life.