We are crossing a mystical line, and it is absolutely apparent that things are changing and different. It is like seeing a welcome sign on the highway as you enter a new city. Suddenly you realize that you are coming into Sonship City limits—only the spiritual battle is not welcoming. God is bringing His Body into maturity as we face some difficult days. When you get this understanding, what is taking place will make sense to you.
When we are spiritual children, the Word is outside of us and it comes to cover, protect, and help us. As a child you need protection; a child “is under guardians and managers” (Galatians 4:2).[1] But that is a lesser experience. God does not want to leave us in a place of immaturity where He constantly has to save us from our circumstances. How many times do you pray against the spiritual warfare that is coming against you? In praying for a leader, I once cried, “Lord, be a wall around him to protect him!” Then I had to recognize my own lack of really understanding what God was trying to do in his life.
During the Passover meal with His disciples, Yeshua (Jesus) said something that is deeply significant: “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28–30). Yeshua was saying, “You’re going to grow up and experience things the way I’ve experienced them. You’re going to sit at My table and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.” All these things are signs of maturity. Then Yeshua turned to Peter and said, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). Peter must have wondered, “Why are You letting that happen? Aren’t You taking care of me?” We would have prayed, “Lord, we take authority over that! We send satan to the pit.” But Yeshua did not do that. Instead, He said, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32). It was time for everything that Peter had received from Christ to be inculcated into his very being; the Word had to be written on his heart.
Peter was sincere when he said, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” (Luke 22:33). But until the Word is written on your heart, you have no capacity to stand against satan. The Father did not stop satan from coming against Yeshua either. Whatever walls of protection had been there earlier were gone. When satan came against Christ, he found nothing in Him (John 14:30). Yeshua could have called for angel protection (Matthew 26:53), but He was no longer dependent on that. Yeshua was not moved because the Word had become flesh in Him (John 1:14). The Word had been inculcated into His being and that was now the controlling factor of His life (Hebrews 10:7). No matter what you face, declare, “God’s Word is being written in my heart and I am going to stand.” When the Word is written on our hearts, we will be unmoved. I bless us that our faith does not fail. If that was a good enough prayer for Yeshua to say to Peter, then it will work for us.
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).