A Prayer of Strength for the Shaking

In this powerful episode of the Press Movement Podcast, we step into one of the most intimate and revealing moments in the New Testament—Jesus praying for Peter in Luke 22. Before Peter ever denied Christ… before the rooster crowed… before his greatest failure… Jesus looked at him and said, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.”

Joined by special guest Lauren Shepherd, we explore what it means to be “sifted as wheat,” why the enemy targeted Peter, and how Jesus’ prayer didn’t stop the attack—but ensured Peter’s faith would survive it. This episode uncovers the mystery of spiritual battles, the purpose behind shaking, and why some fights aren’t removed—because God plans to reveal something through them.

We also examine how Peter later writes about being “sober and vigilant,” proving that Jesus’ prayer produced long-term transformation. And through Peter’s journey, we learn this truth: you may be shaken, but you do not have to fall.

If you've ever wondered why God didn’t stop the storm, this episode will show you how He strengthens you through it—because prayer reaches every single situation.

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Transcript

Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.

And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us. Welcome everybody and greetings. We are back with the Press Movement Podcast.

We are in Luke chapter 22. We are making our way through the New Testament prayers. And I'm just so excited that we get to see another one today.

And in the studio, I have with me Lauren Shepherd, one of TP's outstanding young people. And I am very interested and excited to see what she's going to share. So Lauren, take it from there.

All right. Praise the Lord, everybody. We are in Luke chapter 22, verse 31 through 32.

And looking at the prayer for Peter's faith to remain strong, essentially is what we would sum it up as. And just for brief context, no context doesn't matter like a whole bunch here, but I think it kind of paints the picture a little bit also. In this chapter previously, we had Satan entering into Judas' heart, which would lead him to betray Jesus.

And then around, this is around the time of the Last Supper, right before Jesus was crucified. And then right after this, we have Peter denying Jesus three times. And so to jump into reading, starting in verse 31, it says, So to look at this verse, well, these two verses, we have really just Jesus letting Simon know what was to come and Satan's plans for him essentially, and how he desired him, but not just to have him, but specifically to sift him as wheat.

The sifting as wheat really painted the picture for Peter of what the enemy wanted to do with him. And when we talk about sifting wheat, it's essentially, so wheat when it comes out the ground is whole, but for it to be usable, essentially, it has to be separated. It has to just be out of that whole state that it's in.

And so what the enemy wanted to do with Peter was to destroy him essentially, that was his goal. And then I like the next part where the Lord starts the verse where he says, but, and that but in my perspective, it negates like everything else that the enemy wanted to do with Peter. I would say it's a more important factor than the enemy's plans for him.

And the Lord essentially just told him that he prayed for him, that his faith fell not, and that faith fell not is really just that conviction. I think Peter, for him specifically, was that his faith just not fell. And I don't know specifically what was coming for him, but whatever it was had to be something that could shake his faith because the Lord specifically prayed, that conviction remained essentially.

And then the next part is just when he's converted, he strengthened his brethren. And we see that kind of fulfilled, well, we see that fulfilled or starting to be fulfilled in the book of Acts. And it's pretty much a short prayer.

And my takeaways were pretty simple from this one as well. It's three main takeaways. And the first one for me is that we could take away, because right here, he's talking to Peter.

And so this is not one of those things where we can say it's for us, but we can learn from it. And so the main thing for me is knowing that we have an enemy and being aware of that. And in 1 Peter specifically, 5 verse 8, it talks about, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

And so from my perspective, it's just really being mindful of that. And I think sometimes we can go about our day-to-day lives and kind of forget that we are at war. And so the Bible with that will state in that we have that adversary lets us know to be sober and to be vigilant.

And that sober word is defined as temperate and dispassionate. You might have to correct me on this dispassionate thing, but I get like a visual of being dispassionate because with passion, I think of you having a connection to something. And so with being sober and being dispassionate instead of passionate is that you're not having a lot of things that you're tied to that move you to have a pull on you.

And so the Bible admonishing us to be sober and to be vigilant also. And we understand that being vigilant is about being watchful and just being careful. And so being on guard, I don't think that means in a fearful manner, but I think you go about life in a conscious way, knowing that you have an enemy.

And then the second thought that I got from it is about him fighting us because we're coming up against his kingdom. And so with him wanting to sift Peter as wheat, it made sense with understanding that Peter was given the kings of the kingdom. The Lord told him in Matthew chapter 16, verse 17 through 19, and then how Peter would be the first one to preach Christ after he was converted, resulting in around 3000 souls being saved in Acts chapter 2, verse 41 through 47.

And I think it wasn't just one of those conversions that not much changed after. It was like these people came together now and they seem like they really cling to Christ and each other. It was like the church beginning.

And so with the enemy wanting to come after him, he was coming after a key player. And so I think it was intentional on his behalf of him coming against Peter because of what would happen essentially. And I think for us, just again, like I said, not living out of fear, but out of understanding and letting that influence how we live essentially when we understand we have a real enemy.

And then the last thought for me was just adopting this prayer for ourselves and for others, because there's things that can happen in life that can cause us to waver or can cause our conviction to kind of, you know, faint a little bit, but we don't have to. And I think that main part in this prayer is that we be rooted in faith. And I think even after reading this, after reading this, it was something that I began to pray that my faith failed not in whatever I'm going through.

So my question to God, well, not necessarily why, but why didn't he stop the enemy when he knew? And just some things I think the Lord allows us to go through or we can't avoid and faith like has to be our response. And I think essentially, though it's the Lord praying this prayer, but when we pray it ourselves, like we don't have to be moved when we allow prayer to be our response in certain fights or battles that can easily move us. So all in all, like no matter what happens, like the circumstances, because life can be like, you know, have that rocking effect to us or that shaking effect, but we don't have to be moved.

And so we see that with Peter in Luke chapter 22. I think the why didn't he stop it to me is we're talking about a man in Peter or Simon in this instance, as he's addressed, who gave up everything already to follow Jesus. And yet he's still not converted.

That's something to realize too, that you can give up everything, be walking alongside him and still not have turned. But Jesus saw in him something that is going to turn, like the characteristics of somebody who was going to give up everything, who was going to follow, who was going to go hard, who was going to stand, who was going to be outspoken, all the things he was pre-conversion, he was going to be after. And people like that, in my opinion, don't look for the easy way out.

They look for the strongest way. I don't know if you've ever ran a race, but I tend to run better. And I think I've seen others run better, not when they're running against themselves, but when they're running against competition.

There's something about seeing something alongside of you that makes you try to go faster. And that may not be everybody's mindset, but it is some's. And the enemy is often used by God just to make us to know you can outwin him.

It's just a demonstration of God's power. It's not that he's ever going to lose. A lot of times the enemy thinks he has the plan, but he's an employee of heaven.

And so I look at that and I think, yes, the devil could fight. But as you look throughout the book of Acts and you see all of the greatest stories, all of the greatest opposition, no matter what they did, the apostles or disciples, really the strongest testimonies come out of the fact the enemy tried it and lost again. So as a father, if I know, or I wouldn't be a father, as a mother, if I know the best way for my child to not only succeed, but for the mission they're willing to give up life for it to be accomplished, the greatest stage for that to be accomplished is to go ahead and let this character play out.

I got to let this character play out. Peter gave up his life already so God could be glorified. But what made him glorified is the way he would work in Peter's life.

And to do that, you needed that character, that enemy character. But what I love is that God knew he didn't set him up for failure in any stretch. He prayed for him.

Jesus prayed for him. I think that says a ton about prayer to say Jesus prayed. About our ability to intercede, about the necessity of it, about the necessity of not letting somebody else fail and understanding that just because I have to pray about it, it's not because I'm afraid of falling or I'm afraid you're going to fail.

I'm praying because I believe you don't have to. And so I was listening to some of your points and I thought you brought up great points. And I loved how you said the word but is so key in verse 32, because I agree with you that the fight, our opposition is never the main attraction.

It really is just a storyline that gives God glory. And it was Paul who first said in 2 Corinthians 1130, if I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern my infirmities. The God and the Father of Lord Jesus Christ was blessed forevermore knoweth that I lie not.

Then he goes on in chapter 12 and he says, most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.

It is so counterintuitive to think that the enemies working against me is working for me and working for what I'm giving my life up for. But I believe as children of God, when we start to see it's not about me, what the fight is, is for the glory of God that excites us in a way. So why wouldn't he cancel the fight? I believe because God knew he could be glorified in it.

And not only was Peter survive it, he would thrive in the things that matter. I love how you brought out the word sober in the book of Peter, because I guess this guy you just referenced actually would later write about being sober. The guy he's talking to and the guy we're talking about, he would later write about being sober.

But here that word sift, it means to agitate, to shake to the point of overthrowing. That is what the enemy wanted to do. He wanted to get him so agitated, so shaken that he could take him down.

But for Peter to learn in the meantime, years later, that I have to be sober, which is actually the direct opposite according to your definition of being agitated or shaken, is learning to be what? Calm no matter the circumstance, unmoved, not reacting. We know that prayer works just off of that alone. Jesus's prayer and Peter's testimony that you can settle no matter what the opposition.

I think it's amazing that you get to see Jesus's prayer, Jesus's foresight, even his investment in what Peter would be because he wasn't converted yet. But you also get to hear in the scriptures you share it, Peter's testimony, it worked. And it's not all in the same day, but that alone shows me why Jesus couldn't stop the fight.

It would work. And I get it. I think as humans, sometimes we refer in our hearts and minds, God, could you just make it stop? But he sees further than we do.

And he knows he doesn't do anything just to hurt us or just to make us cry. There's purpose beyond it. And I thank God for that.

So I think this prayer is actually one of my favorites. It's touching to me that Jesus would stop and say, I prayed for you. Like, wouldn't you want to fall out on the floor? He prayed for me.

I know Lauren has summed up what the Lord has given her. And prayerfully, you were inspired by it. And prayerfully, prayerfully, you realize, one, we all need prayer.

And two, we're all worth praying for. And I pray that you continue and that you be strengthened and that we be strengthened until we see ourselves being all that God said we will be. And we pray this because we know prayer reaches every single situation.

Be blessed. Join the movement. Join the community.

Like, share and subscribe to this podcast. Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook. Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and we're wondering, how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice.

It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have. You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you. It's too quiet A book about prayer is designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith.

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