“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32 NIV

I wonder why Jesus prayed that Simon’s faith would not fail. It seems it would have been better to pray that Simon would not fail. Yet James 3:2 says, “We all stumble in many ways.” If Peter had passed this night without fault he faced other failings up ahead. Learning that failure doesn’t have to sideline us is the more important lesson.

Jesus’ words encourage me. No one likes to fail, but no one can really succeed at anything worthwhile without the risk of failure. Thomas A. Edison when trying to invent the electric light bulb said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. (attributed )[1] Not all failure is sin, but fear of or discouragement from failure can cause us to quit trying. Edison also said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”[2]

However, Peter’s failure was sin. He denied knowing Christ three times. Yet remember Jesus’ words to him, “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Amazing! Jesus is commissioning this man who is about to miserably fall flat to strengthen the believers when he gets up again. Peter would learn something from failing he never understood from success. Experiencing God’s grace and forgiveness in his abased state prepared him to humbly and powerfully minister to others.

Where and whom have you failed? Have you let your spouse, your friend, yourself down? Have you failed your Lord? Jesus has prayed for you too (Romans 8:34). What you do now affects your faith. Don’t allow your failure to sabotage your faith. Learn from your failure, get up, and finish the work the Lord has for you.

Blessings,

Thanks for praying for the prison retreat. It was a wonderful day. The inmates repeatedly thanked us and were so attentive.

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[2] Ibid