“I Have Prayed for Thee”, October 7
“I Have Prayed for Thee”, October 7
I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. Luke 22:32.
To every Christian comes the word that was addressed to Peter, “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:31, 32). Thank God we are not left alone. This is our safety. Satan can never touch with eternal disaster one whom Christ has prepared for temptation by His previous intercession, for grace is provided in Christ for every soul, and a way of escape has been made, so that no one need fall under the power of the enemy.
Satan is preparing many and strong temptations with which to assail the people of God. He is represented as walking to and fro like a roaring lion, seeking for some unguarded soul whom he may be successful in deceiving through his subtlety, and may finally destroy. We are not safe without Christ for a single step. But what comfort is treasured for us in the words, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not”! Satan does not sift chaff; it is the wheat that he desires to have in his hands. Then let us take courage and pray at all times.
Christ offers our prayers to the Father, mingled with the merit of His sacrifice, and they come up before God as sweet incense.... Whenever you are tempted to sin remember that Christ’s eye is upon you, and that Satan desires to have you that he may sift you as wheat. Remember to send your petitions heavenward, and see Jesus making intercession for you. Send up an earnest cry to God, “Lord, save me; I perish,” and you will not be overcome; you will not enter into sin. Take your stand firmly on the words of Paul, and in the strength of Jesus say, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).9
9The Youth’s Instructor, December 20, 1894.
[287]