Whispers of His Power –  MARCH 19

Luke 22.31-32:  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.

Our Lord Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith might not fail, and within a few hours his courage did fail.

The more we think of those last hours of our Lord, just before Calvary, the more we see every kind of trial compressed into them.  It was not only that His cup was filled to overflowing with suffering, but that every variety of suffering was there.  It is easy to escape from the intolerable thought of such suffering by saying He was God, and so where Peter was concerned He looked forward to the victory that would be given.  But we know, though we cannot understand it, that He was man too, and Hebrews 2.18 says that He suffered being tempted.

Is there one for whom we are praying, who seems to be unhelped by our prayer?  Are we suffering the bitterness of disappointment?  Our dear Lord has been this way before us.  He who turned and looked upon Peter (Luke 22.61) will give to us, will maintain in us, His own tenderness of spirit, the love that cannot be tired out of loving, the patience that will not let go.

oooOOOooo

These words are from ’Whispers of His Power’ a collection of writings that Amy Carmichael wrote for her ‘children’ and others associated with the Dohnavur Fellowship. and are Copyright © The Dohnavur Fellowship 1982

Unless otherwise stated, biblical quotations are from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

The following abbreviations are used to refer to other versions and sources:

BCP:               Book of Common Prayer, the Great Bible of Coverdale

Conybeare:       W. J. Conybeare, The Epistles of Paul (a translation)

Delitzsch:        F. Delitzsch, Notes on Job and the Psalms

Kay:                W. Kay, The Psalms (a translation)

LXX:              The Septuagint

Moffatt:           J. Moffatt, The New Testament: a new translation

Rotherham:      J. B. Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible Revised Version

RV:                 Revised Version

Way:              A. Way, The Letters of St Paul (a translation)

Westcott:         F. Westcott, Notes on the Gospel of St John

Weymouth:      R. F. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech

Young:            R. Young, A Literal Translation of the Bible

Verses of poetry without quotation marks were written by Amy Carmichael.