How to Keep Your Faith from Failing.

I'm sure that those of you that are watching today have had times in your life where distractions and temptations of the flesh have actually kept you from doing the will of God in your life. Do you know that God has a plan for every person? God's plan, of course, if you've been watching us, you know that one of God's purposes for your life is that you be healed and that you live in divine health. And you know, God also wants to supply your every need according to His riches in glory But God has a specific plan and a specific purpose for all of His people. And it really would do us well if we would find out what that plan is. But even once you know the plan, even though you might know the direction you're supposed to take, you might know you're supposed to witness to somebody who lives down the block, for instance. But if you don't follow through on that, you're not going to So knowing is not enough, but knowing and doing is the formula for success. And you know, we know this, that both Jesus and His disciples, they faced these same struggles in their own lives. And we're going to look at some of that today. You know, as I was studying my Bible this week, I came across a passage of scripture in Luke chapter 22, and it just began to minister to my heart that this is something we need to hear and we need to ponder. You know, Jesus also tried to warn Peter about this in Luke chapter 21 and verse 31. It says the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. Have you ever felt like you've been sifted as wheat? You know, Satan's always looking to steal, kill and destroy. And sometimes you're going to feel like you've been put through the sifter in your life. And really, what is he after? He's after your faith. And Jesus went on to say, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned to me, so Jesus is really prophesying to Peter, you're going to move away from me. You're going to turn from me. So when you come back, strengthen your brethren. Now, of course, Peter, he's not receiving this. It's going right over his head. And he said in verse 33, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. You know, those of us that love Jesus, those of us that really want the plan of God and we want to fulfill the will of God for our lives, we have good intentions, just like Peter. If you tried to tell us that we would go astray, we'd probably say that's not going to happen to me. But Peter, he did the same thing, but he was very wrong. And we're going to get into why he eventually did deny the Lord. And then verse 34, he said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you deny me three times that you know me. That's pretty sober wording right there. And so really we see this, that Jesus tried to warn Peter, but he did tell him in advance, I've prayed for you. You know, the Bible teaches us that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for the saints. And the good news today is that Jesus didn't just pray for Peter and he doesn't just pray for the disciples when he was on the earth, but he continues to pray for the saints today. And sometimes when we're in our weakest hour, where we feel like we don't have an ounce of strength left to resist the devil or to resist temptation, we can be assured of this, that Jesus is praying for us, that our faith won't fail either. And so that can bring comfort to you when you're in a time of need. And you know, there's times where your faith is going to try to fail. And it's not that you don't have faith, it's that you're not exercising it as you ought to. You know, why is faith so important? Faith is everything in the life of the believer. You know, without faith, it's impossible to please God. But not only that, without faith, you can't resist the devil as you should. You know, sometimes when we think about faith, we think about faith for houses or faith for finances or faith for healing, and that's all good and fine. We can use our faith for those things. But you know, I think one of the greatest areas that we need to exercise faith is faith for overcoming the trials in our lives. And of course, if you're afflicted with a sickness or a disease, and especially something that has a terminal diagnosis, that's a legitimate trial. And we have to have faith to go the full length. And that's why Jesus said to Peter, I'm praying that your faith will not fail. Now we know this, faith is not what earns the blessing. So we're not trying to earn God's blessings through our faith, but faith is what receives the blessing. And in 1 John chapter 5, in verse 4, it says, whatever is born of God overcomes the world. So you see, if we're born again, if we belong to God and we're his children, we're legally already overcomers. And it would be good to remind ourselves of that on a frequent basis. And then it goes on to say, this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. And so guess what? The devil knows that scripture too. And what he'll try to do is talk you out of your faith. He'll do everything he can to try to get you to release your faith. I mean, first, he'll try to stop the seed of the word from getting into your heart where faith comes. You know, faith doesn't come by praying for it. That's why we didn't see Jesus saying, I'm praying for you, Peter, that you'll have great faith. Because you can't get faith through prayer. And that's where people miss it sometimes. They're saying, oh, Lord, help me to have faith. Well, faith is going to come one way. It comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And that's what Romans 10, 17 tells us. But the devil will try to keep the seed of that word from getting into your heart so that faith can't come to begin with. But once you actually have faith in your heart for something, for instance, once you really believe that you're healed by his stripes, 1 Peter 2, 24, it's still not enough. Because even though faith comes by hearing, your faith is not released by hearing. Your faith is released by saying. And so, you know, we know this, the Bible teaches us that every believer has a measure of faith. So it's not like we're faithless. We have faith. In order to be saved, you have to have faith. So faith is there, and it's the faith of God. We didn't earn it. It was given to us as a gift. But as long as the faith is there and you're not releasing it by what you say with your mouth, it won't do you any good. And it will fail you. And we see this, that Peter's faith was getting ready to try to fail in this upcoming situation here. Now, in Luke chapter 22, Jesus went on to say, well, he's going to go on to say here, it says, coming out, he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed, and his disciples also followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation. So one of the reasons why Jesus had to pray for Peter's faith not to fail is because he knew Peter was going to fail to pray. You see, we see that if we pray as we ought to, our faith will not fail because we'll be strengthened for what's coming. So he told them, these disciples, pray that you're not going to enter into temptation. And then he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, now, first of all, we're talking about Peter, the disciples, and us, but now let's look at Jesus's life. Now he's praying in his own behalf. He's saying, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Now we get some insight here into the life of Jesus. One thing that we can be assured of, Jesus never had a faith failure. His faith did not fail, but he was tempted, just like any human. Now think about this. He knew what was to come. Not only did he know he was going to be scourged and beaten and spit upon and nailed to a cross, but he knew the worst part of it was coming, three days and nights in the heart of the earth and hell. And that's where he really legally paid the price for our sins. And so nobody in their right mind would want to do that. You can't fault Jesus for saying, Lord, you know, if it's your will, take this cup away from me, because he certainly didn't want to do that, naturally speaking. But in the end, because of prayer, he was able to say, Lord, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. And then this next verse, verse 43, an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him. Now, why did the angel strengthen him? Not just for what's coming ahead, but even strengthen him so he could continue to pray as he should have. Because it goes on to say, Then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. You know, I've never heard of one person, and I've been a Christian for over 40 years, I've never heard of one person that prayed to the point where they were actually sweating drops of blood. That's how earnestly Jesus was praying. That's how much agony he was in, really contending for his faith, because everything in him wanted to walk away from the will of God and the plan of God in this situation. And it said, So he knew that he and his disciples were all about to face a great trial. That's why he led them into the garden to pray. He encouraged them, pray that you don't enter into temptation. And then he went ahead and prayed himself. And so you could say this, his closest associates led him down in his greatest hour of need. But the reason was they just were not strong enough. They weren't strong enough. And we know this, that Jesus could have called down 10,000 legions of angels at any time that would have rescued him from this particular situation. So it was within the realm of possibility. So don't think that your temptations that you're facing are greater than the temptation Jesus faced on this particular day. He knew he could be rescued from this. But he also knew that if he took plan B, that you and I would not be able to spend eternity in heaven with him, and we would instead be suffering in hell for eternity. I'll tell you, that's why we love him so much. Because he paid the ultimate price when he didn't really want to. And you know, there are so many things in life that God is wanting us to do. And in the end, you will profit from following God. But the flesh and the voice of Satan will try to get you to dread those things and try to get you to take a plan B. And I want you to know, you'll never come out ahead taking plan B. You really want to contend for the will of God for your life. And the way you do that is by having a solid prayer life. You know, it's in this place of prayer where we really consecrate ourselves to the plan of God. You know, I was thinking about this recently, that I've been in the pastoral business for many decades. And I've met a lot of Christians throughout my life, some that go to church, some that don't go to church. And here's a sad conclusion that I've come to. And that is that the majority of believers, though they want to go to heaven, though they want Jesus to be their Lord, they really don't even give a second thought to what the will and the plan of God might be for their own lives. And so they live their lives every day like it's their decision. They can go any direction they want. They take any job they want. They move to any place they want to move. They come and go to different churches whenever they feel like it. They live like spiritual nomads with no real thought given to whether or not they're in the plan of God. And, you know, people that are not in the will and the plan of God are wide open for the attacks of the devil on their lives. And so the first step, really, in having your faith not fail is get in the plan of God. Desire the plan of God. I can't understand for the life of me why believers would not desire to know the plan of God. And that's really the first step, or you're not going to find it. Now, as we go down further in the book of Luke, verse 60, it says, but Peter said, now this is when, you know, they arrested Jesus. Let me give you a little history here, because we're skipping over some scriptures. They arrested Jesus. They took him to the high priest's household, and Peter followed him from a distance, and he got led into the gate. And three different people approached him and said, hey, you were with Jesus. I recognize you. And he denied it every time. So this man who, Peter really is a very impetuous personality type. Of all the disciples, he was the first one to jump in and do things before thinking it through. But here he is now, he's facing the temptation to doubt and to deny the Lord because of the fear of what would happen to him. And so after the third time, he said, man, I do not know what you're saying. And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. I can't even imagine what that must have felt like. And then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. So Peter went out, and he wept bitterly. You know, there have been times in my own life, because I so truly desire to please the Lord, where I knew I missed it. And when you miss it, there are going to be times where you're going to feel like weeping bitterly. And then the good news about that, though, is because if you're never weeping over missing it, then you're not really repentant. But when you're sorry, when you're feeling sad or weeping over that mistake that you made, all you have to do is ask the Lord to forgive you, and he's so quick to forgive. And then you have to get up from that place and move on, because the devil will see to it, if you allow him, that you continually stay in a place of condemnation and sorrow. And when you're in that place of condemnation, your faith will not work like it should. So I'm sure you've been there, because we've all been there if we wanted to please God and we missed it. But know this, there is a way out. And Peter, of course, had redemption. Jesus forgave him, and he gave him an opportunity later to get it right. And we see this in the book of John, chapter 21 and verse 15. It says, when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, notice he's talking directly to Peter and not the other disciples, and he said, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these, meaning more than fishing, more than this occupation that you've decided you're going to take up? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. Then he said to him again a love me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, tend my sheep. Then he said to him the third time, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? And Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Now, I want you to see something here that's just so powerful. And I don't know that Peter fully saw it at this time, but Jesus gave Peter an opportunity to retract three different times his three denials earlier in the book of Luke when he was at Caiaphas's household. So you see, we see that faith fails when we don't release the right confession. Peter had faith. He told him, I'll go to your death with you, Lord. But when he got to the place where the temptation was great, his faith failed him and he denied the Lord instead. Sometimes symptoms will be raging in our bodies and it'll be so great. We believe the word says by his stripes, I'm healed. But those raging symptoms are there. And the temptation is so great to say, I'm sick. I don't think I'm going to make it. But the Lord will always give you an opportunity to retract that and reverse that and say what he says about it. And in this case, he gave Peter the opportunity to say, Lord, I love you. I acknowledge you. I'm confessing you. I accept you. I think the Lord is just so good and I love him so much because of that. And so Peter, the first time released fear and doubt by saying, but then this time he released faith by saying. And so what we see from this story today is that your faith will not fail you as long as you strengthen yourself with a strong prayer life, as long as you keep the seed of the word in your heart, and as long as you say what God says about it. But if you'll not release the faith that's in your heart, then the faith that's actually present could fail. So let's be sober about the plan of God. Let's be sober about what God wants us to believe and what he wants us to say. And then you can also have a successful life on this earth because you've been made more than a conqueror. We are overcomers in this life. God bless you. Thank you for joining me today. I want to remind you to like, share, and subscribe to our channel if you haven't yet. You know it means so much to us to hear your comments. 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If you've never made Jesus your Lord and Savior, or perhaps you have, but you haven't been living for him as you ought to, and you'd like to rededicate your life to him today. So if you're interested in praying this prayer with me today, and I highly admonish you to do this, then repeat these words after me. Say, Lord Jesus, you said whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm calling on your name, Jesus. I acknowledge that you're the only begotten son of God. I acknowledge that you died for my sins. I acknowledge that you went to hell in my place. And I acknowledge and confess that you were raised from the dead. And right now I ask for your forgiveness of every sin. And I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Come into my heart. Be my personal Lord. And from this day forward, I will serve you and follow you all the days of my life. I love you, Jesus. And I thank you for my salvation now. Amen. Now if you prayed that prayer, we want to hear about it. 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