If you were to ask me to turn to the portion of Scripture that pitted Satan against God over the battlefield of a man I would immediately turn you to the first two chapters of the book of Job . . . until this morning . . . now I might also turn you to Luke 22. It’s not two chapters detailing the conversation between Satan and God and the impact it had on one man’s life . . . instead, it’s two verses. But as I read it and meditate on it, it has as much information, if not more, about the nature of such cosmic contests.

“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” — Luke 22:31-32

Just as Satan challenged God for Job, so he arrogantly pleads for access to Peter and the other disciples. He came calling . . . he had already entered Judas and started the ball rolling towards Jesus’ death. And, thinking that was a done deal, the Destroyer now was going to take out the Son of God’s followers. “Let me at ’em,” he pleads with God.

His plan? Simple! Turn Peter’s world upside down. Shake it back and forth. Stir it up. Agitate it. Squeeze Peter through a sieve. Sift him like wheat. It might not be as dramatic as the onslaught against Job, but it would nevertheless shake Peter to his foundation. It would seek to break him of his faith. It would cast doubt into his mind . . . fear into his soul . . . uncertainty into his future. “Let me at him,” Satan pleads with God.

But just as God wrapped a hedge of protection around Job, allowing Satan to go only so far but no further, so God establishes a bulwark around Peter and the other disciples. Jesus. Jesus the mediator . . . Jesus the intercessor . . . Jesus the man who understood the vulnerability of man. “But I have prayed for you.” Hear those words? Jesus prayed for Peter. He knew what Satan would do . . . He knew how it would shake Peter and set him back on his heels . . . and Jesus prayed for him . . . that Peter’s faith would, literally, “not be eclipsed” or permanently fail . . . “Father, allow the devil to go only so far in stirring up Peter’s life and no farther. Do not allow the enemy to tempt My beloved disciple beyond what he is able to bear. Show my brother, Peter, the way to escape the onslaught. Preserve him . . . refine him . . . restore him . . . because he has some work to do for Me and for your kingdom! In My name, amen.”

And then check out what Jesus says to Peter, “And when you have returned . . .” When you return . . . not if . . . not maybe. The Lord was certain that Peter’s testing would result in a stronger Peter. Just as sifting would separate the wheat from the chaff . . . the silver from the dross . . . so too, Jesus knew that Satan’s messing with Peter would ultimately serve to strengthen Peter’s faith. Jesus the Intercessor was confident that Peter would not give in or give out . . . because Jesus was in his corner praying for him. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31) And when Peter came through the sieve, he would be in a position to strengthen his brethren . . . to encourage them . . . to say, “Been there . . . gone through that . . . and I love Him even more now.” The sieve would lead to power for the work.

How instructive should these two verses be for me? Is it beyond the realm of possibility that every so often Satan points to me and says to the Father, “Let me at him!” When I’m struggling . . . my world’s being shaken . . . I feel like I’m being squeezed through a sieve . . . would it be wrong for me to remember that Jesus is praying for me? To know that He is interceding for me . . . pleading that my faith should not fail . . . spurring on the Holy Spirit indwelling me to join Him in interceding for me with groans that words cannot express (Rom. 8:26) . . . and calling on the power of God within me to renew the inner man? And even in the midst of the sifting, can I not have the confidence that it is not about “if I return” but “when” . . . and that the trial or temptation will ultimately serve to refine me into more of the servant of the King I desire to be?

He is the intercessor!!! “Who then will condemn us? No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.” (Rom 8:34 NLT) “He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” (Heb. 7:25 NLT)

I am the victor!!! “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:37 NKJV)

God gets all the glory!!!