“Faith Fail”

Luke 22:31-34

Can you share a time when your prayer was answered?

Today, we will be discussing prayer. We will be asking the question does prayer work? Most people here would probably say yes prayer works. We are going to look at a story of one of Jesus’s prayers where we could say that His prayer failed. 

We want to see today how Jesus defines failure of faith differently than we do. Then we will discuss how Jesus’s definition affects our faith. 

Did Jesus’ prayer work?

Don’t we assume that the prayers of the Son would be answered by the Father because they are one?

I've been struck by the concept that we don't think Jesus’s prayer worked because we refer to Peter's denial as his failure.

The word Jesus uses to describe his prayer for Peter means "to come to an end, die out, no longer functioning." When our faith has died out, it's come to an end and it's no longer functioning.

We don't use the word fail that way. We use it to refer to every time we mess up. Failing is so frequent in my own life that I feel like my faith has failed many times. 

Jesus' prayer for us didn't fail and neither did his prayer for Peter because Peter's faith didn't fail. Peter’s faith was still functioning.

A faith that falters is not the same as a faith that fails. Yes, Peter’s faith faltered even after this moment, but it never failed.

Why do we view "falter" as "failure?" Why am I quicker to label something a failure than Jesus is? Why am I quicker to label something finished than Jesus is?

What does Jesus want? View our falters in faith as steps of growth.

We need to see what we view as failures as just faltering. Or maybe even just doubts.

Why am I supposed to view my falters of faith as steps of growth? So that we can strengthen others. 

How am I supposed to view my falters of faith as steps of growth? By viewing our falters as Jesus does and strengthening others. 

The words of Winston Churchill can encourage us: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." 

Has your faith failed? Of course not. It's faltered, been tested, gone through crises, been sifted, but it's still here. It's still functioning and within that reality lies a task, a calling—return to strengthen the others.

What faith fail do we need to view as a falter instead? In what ways, can our faith journeys encourage the people around us? How can we continue to let Jesus define our faith?

We asked if Jesus’s prayer worked. We see that Peter still denied Jesus. It seems Jesus’s prayer failed. However, we need Jesus’s definition of failure. Peter’s faith didn’t fail. It only faltered. Peter returns from his faltering faith and has a great influence on the early church. Through the falter, Peter’s faith grows.

We are to view faltering faith the way Jesus does. It is not failing. It is only faltering. Through the faltering faith, our faith can be strengthened. Then, with our faith strengthened, we can encourage our sisters and brothers in Christ with their faith.