Steven Furtick - The Prayer You Need Right Now
This is an excerpt from: The Prayer That Repairs
My sermon is about the prayer, not that prevents, not that prepares, but the prayer that repairs. This is for all of you who weren’t ready for it. This is for all of you who didn’t see it coming. This is for all of you…Simon, Simon…who hit a point in your life, and you didn’t pray about it. See, the thing about Jesus' words in this situation, when he says, «Simon, Simon,» that is so meaningful to me is when Satan asked to sift him as wheat, Jesus didn’t tell him, «No». Even standing on the eve of Peter’s disappointment, Jesus prophesies his destiny. Look at verse 32, please. «When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers». When. Not if…when. Not if you turn back.
Jesus knew in that moment there would come a point in your life, a pivotal point, when the pressure would be too great, when the future would be too uncertain, when you would not be able to do it like you used to do it… He said, «In that moment, when you turn back…» Not if you turn back…when you turn back. He knew there would be a moment where you would pray and say, «God, fix it. I made a mess of this. I have made a complete mess of this. Fix it». That’s the moment he has been waiting for. When my kids were very small, I made up a little lie. You can judge me for it. Anytime they would get hurt and they would come to me about it, I would tell them, «Oh…» If it was a minor injury. If it was a major injury, «See your mom». If it was a minor injury, I’d say, «Don’t worry about it. I can fix it».
Whatever was hurt on their body, I would pretend like I knew how to fix it. I’m talking when they were very small. So, «My elbow hurts». «Oh, come here. I’ll fix it. I went to elbow school». «Oh, your big toe hurts? I went to big toe school. I went to pinkie toe school also, but big toe school is the one you need right now. Big toe school is what you get». «Oh, your ear hurts? I went to ear school». If it was a minor injury, I’m telling you, every time, it would work. Every time, they’d stop crying. One time, Graham looked at me and said, «You went to a lot of schools».
I went to ear school, eye school, hand school…every school. I went to every school. Even though I didn’t really have the competency to fix it, their faith made them feel better. I didn’t even really have the ability to fix it. Just their faith that I could was enough to make the pain go away. If I, as a father with no ability to fix it, can make my kid better just by telling them I went to school, how much more can your Father, who didn’t just go to school; he started the universe (ity)? How much more can your Father, who knows how he put you together, who knows how he made you, who knows your temperament, knows your personality, knows your background, knows your insecurity, knows your résumé, knows your «hope nobody finds out abouts,» knows everything you carry on the inside of you, call your name and say, «Simon, Simon»?
«I see who you were, I see who you’re going to be, and I stand in the middle to let you know that Peter is how I see you and Simon is how I found you. For the next night, you are going to be in a Simon state of mind. You’re going to deny me, Simon, Simon. You’re going to betray me, Simon, Simon. You’re going to let me down, Simon, Simon, but when I look at you, I still see Peter, because that’s the name I gave you. That’s the name I called you. That’s the name I chose for you». Now help me preach. Tell your neighbor, «He knows your name». He knows your name and your other name. He knows your name you bring to church and your other name you’re taking home. He knows your name.
«Simon, Simon». Just to remind you that he will speak to your Simon until you see your Peter again. Praise break! What I’m trying to say… Watch this. Simon is what you’re acting like. Peter is what God called you. The two are a pair. Everybody say, «Pair». Like boots, they are a pair. Like earrings, they are a pair. Like gloves, they are a pair. So, when Peter doesn’t prevent it, when Peter doesn’t persevere through it, when Peter isn’t prepared for it and Simon sinks low, watch what happens next. Jesus said, «I prayed for you, Simon».
So, if this is Simon’s faith versus Satan’s attack, Satan wins. But apparently, this is not a fight between Simon’s faith and Satan’s attack; this is a fight between Satan’s attack and a Savior’s prayer. And this is not just any prayer. This is the prayer that re-pairs. This is the prayer not that you pray, because sometimes you can’t pray, and sometimes you don’t pray, and sometimes you didn’t pray. This is not the prayer that prevents, because Peter went on to deny Jesus, but when it doesn’t prevent and it doesn’t prepare… Jesus says, «I’ve got a prayer for you. Not the one that you pray; the one that I pray when you are acting like Simon but I know you to be Peter».
It is the prayer that re-pairs. The prayer that reminds you who you really are; the prayer that reminds you what he really spoke; the prayer that calls you back to the essence of his Spirit and his presence, away from the dictates of your flesh; the prayer that brings you back to your right mind; the prayer that, like the Prodigal Son, says, «How am I starving to death when my father has enough food to feed an entire household and every employee? I will arise and go back to my father». «I will re-pair you. I will bring you back into alignment. I am praying for you. I am pairing you». Because as long as Jesus is your prayer partner, your prayers are going to get answered. It is the prayer that repairs. Chris, come here. Chris, Chris, come up on the stage.
How many of y’all think that Chris lifts? How many of y’all think Chris lifts? Chris, Chris lifts, lifts. As he is lifting, the Lord gave me a very specific picture of this to make it make sense. When he is lifting weights, he is hopefully lifting more weight than he can successfully complete repetitions for, which is called lifting to the point of failure for hypertrophy so he can have muscle gain. When he is lifting weights, to the average eye, it appears that he is building muscle, but that is not technically true. He does not build muscle when he lifts weights. He builds muscles after he has lifted weights to the point of failure and goes home. While he is lifting weights, not only is he not building muscles; he is actually doing the opposite in that the muscle fibers are tearing, little micro-tears that are tearing the muscle fibers.
So now he’s got a tear in there. So, when he goes home, his body starts talking to itself, saying, «We’ve got to do something about this. Did you see what he just put us through? He made us curl 60-pound dumbbells today. He made us do six, seven, eight reps. Last time we only did nine. Today he made us do 10, and he barely got there. He struggled, and he couldn’t get the last one». Since he got to that point and started shaking, and started shaking… Three of y’all are listening to my sermon, so I’ll preach it for three. Since he got to that point… Because this is the prayer that repairs. Since he got to that point and started shaking and couldn’t do another one and dropped the weight, then the body sends a signal to itself. It starts sending out satellite cells to the torn fibers with the little micro-cells. (This is all the stuff I went to school to learn about. I went to muscle school too.) The body says, «We’ve got to send more cells to build that back».
Now I know what Jesus meant in verse 32. Put it on the screen, please. He said, «I prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail». But it did. No, it didn’t. It didn’t fail; it was broken down to be built back up. After you finish that lift… (Why did y’all take my verse down? Give me my verse back.) «I prayed that your faith would not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers». This is the prayer that repairs. It’s that after you have been broken down, after you were surprised what came out of yourself, after you made the mistake, you say, «God, strengthen me through this». Jesus says, «All right. I’m already praying for you, and I’m already sending satellite cells all to your torn muscles, all to your broken heart. I’m already sending new cells, but I’m not just going to build it back; I’m going to build it back better».
On the other side of this night, Peter will go on to preach the first sermon that was called a sermon in the New Testament church. I’ve got to think that while he was shaking, he didn’t feel very strong. I’ve got to think that while he was shaking, while he was sifted, he felt like «This is it». But Jesus said, «Peter, this is not about your prayer, Simon; it’s about my prayer». As long as you keep thinking it’s about your faith versus Satan’s attack, you will always feel weak. (Chris, Chris, I’m done with you. Come on back down.) But the moment you realize this is not Simon’s faith versus Satan’s attack; this is Satan’s attack versus the Savior’s prayer… The prayer of repair is his prayer. He’s saying, «I see you, Simon. I see you, Peter. I am re-pairing you. I’m reminding I’m going to use you».
Don’t you think for one moment that when you get to this point you’re going to always be «Peter, Peter». At best, you’re going to be «Simon Peter,» and sometimes you’re «Simon, Simon». But don’t you love to know that the Savior prayed for Simon? That just hit me, man, that the Savior prayed, «Simon, Simon». Stand to your feet so I can pray for you. The prayer that re-pairs. See how me and Holly are standing together like this? We’re a pair. We’re a couple. That’s a visual illustration for you and Jesus. If any of you would want to come after her, you would have to go through me. You might be able to do it, but I promise you I’ll pick up a chair, and if the chair didn’t do it, I’ve got three state champions on the second row and a full security team.
I want you to know I would do everything in my power to keep you from getting to who I’m paired with. You keep thinking you are paired with people, so when people leave, you think it’s over. You are a joint heir with Jesus. In the book of Hebrews… I’ve got to give them Hebrews 7, babe, because they’ll think Jesus just prayed for Simon, but they won’t believe he’s praying for them. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 25, the author says, «Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them». What does it mean that he’s interceding? He is standing in your shaking place, saying, «If you want to get to them, you’ve got to go through me». That’s Jesus speaking.
Now, there is the prayer… (Graham, help me down from this chair.) There is the prayer that prevents, there is the prayer that prepares, but I have a feeling I’m speaking to a few people online today, and even a few in the room, who prayer didn’t prevent it. Prayer didn’t prepare. Like Simon, Simon, you are going through something right now, or you’ve been through something, where you need the prayer that re-pairs. The prayer that re-pairs is this: «Lord, if everything else goes away, if everything else is sifted, don’t let this trial take my faith». Because if my faith doesn’t fail, I can make it. If my faith doesn’t fail, I can come back from this. If my faith doesn’t fail, I can get resourceful. If my faith doesn’t fail, I can reach out. If my faith doesn’t fail, I can pivot.