I Have Prayed…That Thy Faith Fail Not

Scripture: “Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire.”

Observation: We all know Peter’s greatest failure as a a disciple of Jesus, but consider here the courage that it took for him to follow at a distance. The others had fled, and only possibly John, or perhaps another disciple not of the twelve, were there at Jesus’ trial as witnesses. Not only was Peter following, but he gained entry into the courtyard after the unnamed disciple arranged for his access. And not only was Peter in the courtyard now, but also he was sitting with the very officers who could arrest him! Here I see a boldness that many miss. Although he failed his claim to Jesus that he would die with Him, we can see a glimmer of the love and fidelity Peter had for Jesus.

How many of us would dare to follow Jesus on His death march at a distance? To seek access to the place where your Master’s life is in the balance? To sit with would-be enemies who had the power to seize you and throw you in jail, or worse? I’ve often thought I’d be more like the others and flee to seek safety. I am not a courageous person, but I have prayed about that quite often. The Lord seems to remind me that power is given to us when we need it, in the moment, whenever we step out in faith. Remember the Israelites crossing the Jordan? The river didn’t stop flowing until the Levites set foot in it. They took a step of faith in obedience, and the Lord was true to His word.

Also, as I think about this situation, perhaps the Lord’s will was not for Peter to follow Him to death at this point in time. He had positioned Peter as a leader in the early church, a rock upon which the gates of hell would not overcome. If Peter had died at this time, we would not have his contributions to the early church’s growth, nor seen his careful shepherding of Jesus’ lambs. But the entire incident showed Peter something he did not realize about himself, namely, that he was unable to fulfill his claim without the Holy Spirit’s power, and also that he should never contradict his Master who knew him better and foresaw the future perfectly.

Application: Whenever we fail, be it in courage, or love, or dedication for our Lord, our faith will never fail. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail him, and our Lord prays this way for all of us as well, for He lives to intercede for us. And I think Peter must have had a great amount of faith to not throw in the towel and give up completely on the One he loved. We can be encouraged by this, and see how Peter was afterward used by God in preaching, in teaching, in healing, in visions, in councils, in wisdom, and in writing His inspired word!

Our failures, big or small, never mean we are finished with our Christian vocation. We have so many examples of this in scripture–just look at the heroes of faith and some of their lackluster follow-through and downright vexing character flaws. Yet, the Lord used them! Never tell yourself, never listen to the enemy, that your faith journey is finished and you will never be what the Lord ordains you to be. What the Lord wills, He will accomplish, especially through weak and sinful people who do not lose heart when they fail, but persevere. Here, the manifest grace of God is most evident.

Prayer: Dear Abba, how much I praise You that Your grace is sufficient for all things, that when we are weak, Your power is evident, on display for the world to see. Thank you so much for dear Peter’s example for us, for inspiring your servants to include in Your holy word even the most embarrassing failures–for our edification, for our comfort, for our defense against the foe of our souls–all so we can see Your wondrous and powerful grace at work through fallible people, who, like us, in Your divine providence, never stop believing Your promises. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, for He gives us power to overcome fear, to overcome our flesh, to strengthen our faith until, at the end, we will overcome the world. In our precious Savior’s holy name there is victory. Amen.