No prayer of Jesus could ever go unanswered, could it? He always intercedes for his loved ones, always prays with wisdom and insight, always with the keenest concern for our welfare and maturing in faith. He always prays in full recognition of the will of his Father. Nothing is lacking from his prayers; they could never fail.
"Simon, I have prayed for you [singular] that your faith may not fail." Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, wants to winnow your soul, wants to bring you down to the lowest low, wants to see you utterly fall and fail. He cares nothing for you; longs only for your harm, Simon. But I have prayed for you - for unfailing faith, for faith that stands the test.
And then the test comes and Simon Peter fails it by a country mile. Three times he has the opportunity to affirm his faith in Jesus, his connection to the despised Galilean, his willing and glad submission to him as Lord, and each time he fails. He's a denier. He's a coward. He's completely unworthy.
His faith has failed - and so, too, it seems have the prayers of Jesus.
Except that isn't the whole story and it isn't the full picture of what faith in Jesus is and means.
When the cock crowed the third time, Peter remembered Jesus' words, "the word the Lord had spoken to him...and he went outside and wept bitterly." He recognises his bravado was an empty boast, that what his Lord knew he now knows: his boasts were fleshly and ignorant of his crippling weakness. He weeps to know that he has denied the one whose life and character has shone before him the redeeming love and glory of God.
And it is in this repentant weeping that we see his faith has not failed. This isn't bare regret; this isn't worldly sorrow. This is full ownership of his sin (how else would we know the details of what happened by that courtyard fire?). And in owning his sin, he remains with the disciples, as a follower of Jesus.
That our faith may not fail isn't about uninterrupted victories, going from strength to strength as Christians, never falling backward but our every step an upward one. No, the faith that does not fail is the faith that, when it sees and feels its sin, owns it and continues to look to Jesus for mercy and forgiveness. The faith that knows and clings to the fact that there is a way back to God from the dark paths of sin.
Maybe these weeks without an expected routine, cloistered in ways not of your choosing, are revealing aspects of your heart and mind you'd rather not see. That there are pressure points which, when pressed, not only yield pain but cause you to hurt others too. You're overwhelmed by what feels like faithless anxiety and are drowning in shame.
Jesus has prayed for you, by name, that your faith will fail not. He knows, far more truly than we ever could, the vulnerabilities that haunt our souls. He foresees the looming lunges for our faith that the world, the flesh and the devil will make. And he prays for us, prays for you. That your faith would not fail. That in any fall, from whatever hole you've tumbled into and for whatever reason, you would look to him. That your hope would not be in keeping your clothes unsoiled but that you would be given grace to look to the one who alone can make them clean.
And the faith that, then, looks to others, to brothers and sisters equally wrestling under a groaning weight, and holds out the helping hand of prayer and sympathy and the loving embrace of mercy offered and received. That when it turns, strengthens others.
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Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last.
Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, oh, leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.
Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy name,
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.
Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.
Charles Wesley
