Jesus continually emphasized the importance of faith in the life of the believer. Toward the end of His earthly ministry, as He sat at the Last Supper, he spoke to the disciples. He said to Peter:
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren (Luke 22:30-31)
This is an incredible “behind-the-scenes” look into the spiritual realm. Jesus showed Peter that He had received knowledge about something that Satan was planning.
Satan wanted access to Peter so he could “sift him like wheat”. We aren’t sure exactly what this means, but we do know that shortly after this conversation, Peter was to undergo the most dramatic testing of his life. Within the space of a few short hours from the Lord’s declaration, Peter would deny Christ three times. Satan had his way with Peter during this time.
But what is truly remarkable in this story are the words Jesus spoke. He told Peter that Satan desired to have him. This revelation is remarkable in itself. But what is more incredible is what Jesus didn’t say.
Jesus did not say “Satan has desired to have you but I have prayed that he won’t be able to touch you.”
Jesus did not say “Satan has desired to have you but I have prayed that you would be wise.”
Jesus did not say “Satan has desired to have you but I have prayed that you would not be afraid.”
What Jesus did say was “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not…”.
That thy faith fail not! This is amazing. We see from this what Jesus thought most vital and in need of protection here was Peter’s faith. Of all the responses Jesus could have had to this situation, this is what He felt it was most important to pray for—Peter’s faith. Because Jesus knew that Peter’s faith was the foundation of his relationship with God. Without his faith, he could not stand. (2 Cor. 1:22)
As they worked side by side with Jesus in His ministry, the apostles eventually began to get the faith message, and so one day they asked Him saying, “Lord increase our faith (Luke 17:5).” The teaching was getting through.
Within a few short years, we see in the book of Acts that it took root, and the apostles of Christ began to work their own miracles, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus when He said in John 14:12:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
However, the concept of this type of faith toward God was new and revolutionary at that time. Miracles had been done in ages past by select men of God, but never had such awesome power been placed in the hands of the “common” man.
The apostles took advantage of their new-found faith by working miracles, spreading the Gospel to much of the civilized world, and penning the New Testament.
This revelation of this faith message was new to Satan as well. During the formative days of the church, Satan was caught off guard by this outbreak of powerful faith. His kingdom was truly plundered during the time of the apostles.
However, during the intervening centuries, the devil has reformed and reworked his strategies to combat the new faith revelation. He formed a three-pronged approach: 1) infiltration of the church hierarchy, 2) false religions, and 3) the rise of demonic philosophic, societal, and pseudo-scientific theories.
We now live in the latter days of this satanic strategy. As we look around us we see the emergence of corrupt and heretical religious ideologies, secular humanism, atheism and many other philosophies hostile to Christianity.
Christians today have a harder time maintaining a faith walk because of well-planned satanic opposition. But fear not! With God, all things are possible! According to Christ’s promise, the gates of hell shall not prevail!
In the chapters that follow, we will examine these issues and see the obstacles that are stacked against us and oppose our faith at every turn.