Why Does God Allow Satan to Trouble You?

God, thank you once again for the opportunity you grant me to share a word with my brothers and sisters on this very special day that you have given us. God, as I asked you this morning, I say it again, Lord: may the words that come from my mouth and the meditation in my heart bring honor and glory to your name and bring conviction to the hearts of your sons and daughters. And because I fully trust in you, Lord, this word will not return empty, but will accomplish the purpose for which you are sending it. So, Lord, I place myself in your hands, and may your Holy Spirit speak to each one of our lives. Thank you, Lord. Amen and amen.

Well, brothers and sisters, I invite you to open your Bibles. We are going to the book of Luke, chapter 22, and before getting fully into the message, I would just like to summarize some of the words Pastor Roberto Miranda shared with us last Sunday. How many of you remember that message from last Sunday? How many of you left here feeling it? Let me see your hands—how many of you felt it? And when I say you felt it, I mean a feeling like, “Get ready, get ready,” not like, “Wow, how beautiful.” That is not what I mean, but rather that those words, when they come, make you go, “Wow”—those tugs on the ear that you truly have to pay attention to, so to speak.

And just in case you do not remember, the key passage used last Sunday was Revelation, chapter 12, verse 11, and that verse says: “...they have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and by the fact that they did not love their lives even unto death...”

Of course, when it speaks of “they,” it is referring to the church, to God’s chosen people; and the one they overcame is Satan, the chief enemy of God’s church. That is the one it is talking about.

And those were the three weapons upon which the pastor reflected. And I tell you, my brothers and sisters, I still think about those words, and something trembles inside me, because it was a message containing a very great challenge that we cannot overlook or fail to notice. Rather, we must keep it very clear in our lives and consider how we are going to respond to it.

Now, as I reflected on those words, while I was sitting right there in the front, a biblical text came to my heart, and that is the biblical text I want to share with you. It is found in Luke, chapter 22, verses 31 to 32, and the word of the Lord says:

“...the Lord also said, Simon, Simon...”

Let me make it a little more personal. It says, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked for all of you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and once you have returned, strengthen your brothers...”

Now, I found this passage in another version, and I liked the way it brought it down to a simpler level. The passage is here on the screen; you can read it. This is the Bible in Simple Language; it is like the goddess...... perhaps some of you know it by that name. It says:

“...Then Jesus said to Peter, ‘Peter, listen carefully to me’—that was the Puerto Rican accent I wanted to put in there—he said, ‘Peter, listen carefully to me. Satan has asked God for permission to put all of you through difficult trials, and do you know what, my brother? God has granted it to him. But I have asked God, I have asked Father, to help you remain firm. For a time you will leave me alone, but afterward you will change. When that happens, you will help your companions always remain faithful to me...’”

Let me break down this passage for a moment, my brothers and sisters. I can say with complete certainty that, of the four Gospels, Luke is the only one that emphasizes those words from Jesus to Peter. This takes place within the context of Jesus predicting to Peter that he was going to deny him and explaining how he would deny him. And all of this takes place while Jesus is sharing his last supper with his disciples. He is revealing the things that are going to happen and the reasons why he has to die; he is revealing who the person who would betray him was going to be; and amid all of this, there is also a promise that Jesus shares with his disciples. If you look a little earlier, at verse 28, right there in Luke 22, verse 28 says:

“...But you have remained faithful with me in my trials. I therefore assign a kingdom to you, just as my Father assigned one to me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel...”

Look at how interesting this is. Here Jesus is, so to speak, applauding his disciples: “Very good, boys. You have remained faithful with me for these past three years. Even though you thought you could not feed five thousand people, nevertheless you did it because you trusted in me. You have endured hardship, you have endured fasting, you have endured long walks, sun, thirst, hunger—all of that for me—and I applaud you for it. And that is why I give you the promise that you will sit with me in that kingdom when I come.”

How would you feel if Jesus spoke to you that way? You would feel like, “That feels good. Thank you, Master. I’m not worthy. I am not worthy, Master.” But do you know what? Immediately after those words, Jesus comes and throws this bucket of cold water over them. He tells them, “Just as I acknowledge your faithfulness, in the same way I tell you that all of you are going to abandon me.” “Oh, but how can that be, Master? How can that be possible? We cannot do such a thing.” No. The objections come out quickly. And one of those people was Peter. He told him, “No, Master, I would lay down my head for you. I will be with you to the death.” And that was when he told him, “Oh, Peter, if only you knew, young man, that you are going to be one of those who will deny me three times. Others are going to run away frightened, but you are going to deny me.”

And then he speaks those words to him, my brothers and sisters. This is where I want to get to the heart of the matter, because there is something that I understand God wants to communicate to us as a church. These words: “Peter, listen carefully.” In fact, I say, “Church, listen carefully, because Satan has asked God for permission to put all of you through difficult trials.” That may sound a little frightening, right? But do you know what? Do not be frightened. I am going to tell you why.

I notice, my brothers and sisters, that when someone asks permission to do something or enter a place, it is because that person does not have permission to enter or to do what they want to do, right? If you punish one of your children and say, “You are not going to play with the PlayStation anymore. You are not going to watch television for who knows how many hours. If you want to go out, you have to ask my permission,” what does that child have to do? The child has to come and ask his father or mother for permission to do something he had been forbidden to do. If you are walking through the countryside and come upon, let us say, an orchard with an apple tree, so to speak, and those apples look so delicious that your mouth waters at the thought of eating one of them—but obviously there is a sign saying, “This is private property. You may not enter”—then, if you want one of those apples, what do you have to do? You have to go and speak with the owner and ask permission to enter and eat an apple, right?

Do you not find it interesting that Satan has to ask permission to bother God’s chosen people? And brothers and sisters, this fills me with such confidence, because it means that we obviously belong to God, and if the enemy wants to mess with us, he has to ask the owner of our lives for permission. He cannot just barge in for no reason; he has to ask permission.

Now, let me be very clear, because this is something that applies to those who have been chosen by God, who have been marked and sealed with his Holy Spirit. And I believe that I am standing here before a group of people who have been chosen and marked by the power and Spirit of God.

Consider something. I started thinking, brothers and sisters; I was devouring this passage from beginning to end. I said to myself, “Wow, why is all of this being emphasized?” And just as I saw the fact that Satan had to ask permission, I began to think about the words of Jesus, about Jesus himself telling his disciples, “Boys, this is something that is going to happen.” And obviously every one of the disciples was saying, “No, Jesus, that is impossible. We cannot leave you alone. No, we cannot do that. If we have stayed with you this far...” I imagine they might have sung, “God did not bring us this far to turn back. He brought us here to stay with you.” No, no. If the disciples had stayed with Jesus at the time of his arrest, what would have happened to them? They would have been arrested too, and if they had been arrested, I imagine that perhaps they too would have been put to death.

And do you think that was in God’s plan? No. There was a reason Jesus sacrificed so much to be with those young men for three years: so they could take charge of continuing to spread that message from God to all nations. So an announcement from Jesus that might have sounded so out of this world at that moment—“Why are you saying that we are going to deny you, that we are going to leave you alone?”—I imagine that Jesus was saying in his heart, “You know what, boys? That’s for me and God to know and for you to find out later. That is for God and me to know now, and you will find out later.”

But it has to happen that way. And that is where this whole dynamic of Satan having to ask permission comes in. What other person does this remind you of? Job. Job was another person whom Satan had to ask permission to bother, because he was a chosen man, upright before God. And then he went and made the first round, so to speak: he tried to take away Job’s family and possessions. After he realized that Job was still standing firm, he came before God again and told him, “Look, God, okay, you have allowed me to take away his family, his belongings, his children, and the reputation he had among his friends, but do you know what? Let me bother him a little more. Attack his skin, attack his health, and you will see how he will deny you.” And in his sovereignty, do you know what God said? “Look, do whatever you want, but do not touch his life.” And there he is saying, “Do not touch what is at his core, because that belongs to me.” And that was when all these illnesses came upon Job, those sores that broke out on his skin and body, which made him desperate to scratch, along with that desperation—and God—but he always remained there, standing firm, until he reached the point of saying, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.”

Brothers and sisters, I do not know about you, but this is something that fills me with hope, because if Satan dares to come before God’s throne and ask permission to bother some of his chosen people, and if God agrees to grant that permission, do you know why? Because God knows what we are made of. We are made from him. We are his workmanship; every one of us has something of God within us. And you know, it is as if God were telling him, “You know what? Go ahead, bother them. I know what they are capable of. I know what they are capable of doing. I know what I have placed within them, and do you know what? Whatever you do will serve the purpose I have for their lives.”

What does the passage say? What does he ask permission to do? It says, “to sift you as wheat.” To sift you as wheat—that is the example. There is a picture of wheat there, a mountain of wheat. But do you know how wheat is sifted, how it is shaken? There are different ways. There is a very traditional method in which the person throws the wheat into the air so that what needs to be separated will separate. And there is another method that uses something like a large tray with a mesh, a screen; then you shake it so that the bad remains outside and what is truly useful can be used. And that, my brothers and sisters, is the idea of sifting; that is the idea of shaking; that is the idea that we need to be sifted like wheat. We need to be shaken like wheat so that the rough edges and the things within us that are useless can be cast aside, and so that what is truly good, what is truly useful, what really serves a purpose, can then be used for the honor and glory of God.

Now, our tendency is to think, “Okay, if I belong to God, since God loves me so much, since I am God’s pampered little boy or girl, then God will not allow the devil to bother me so much.” That is what we want to think. But God sees much further than what we think, my brothers and sisters, because God knows what he wants to do within us. And he can use any instrument he wants, even the devil himself, so that his purpose may be fulfilled in us. What God wants to do is move us into a new dimension. What God wants to do is form within us the kind of person, the kind of man, the kind of woman he wants us to be, so that we may truly reflect all his glory and all his power at the time in which we are now living.

And this is where I see that many people sometimes have trouble accepting this. Because we do not have the eyes to see ourselves the way God sees us. We do not have the capacity to truly say, if God wants me to move into a new dimension, you know what? There is a part of me that longs for and desires that, but there is another part of me that sees all these rough edges that remain, and I do not believe I am worthy of such a calling. And you know what? That is a lie from the devil; I rebuke that in the name of Jesus, because I am sure that God wants to do something in the life of every single one of you, from something as simple and straightforward as giving a glass of water to a stranger to something as great as leading an entire crowd through the streets to proclaim that God is real, that God lives—whatever it is that God wants to do with you.

And you know what? Many times people find it difficult to accept this because we struggle with things inside us; we have habits that we hold on to so very tightly that we think, I cannot be one of those who are called or chosen because I have these things inside me. And sometimes they find it difficult to receive or accept the fact that God has a purpose for them. And you know what? I came across a CD that someone lent me by an Argentine preacher named Dante Gebel. Most likely you have heard of him. It was a truly intense sermon; that man had me completely fired up. When I put that CD on in the car, wow. The thing was, he reached a point in his message where he began to reflect on precisely these words: that people often do not believe they can reach that new level God has for them because they feel they are struggling with hidden sins that prevent them from attaining those things God has for them.

And in the midst of that reflection, he referred to the Lord’s Prayer. In that reflection on the Lord’s Prayer, you remember that the Lord’s Prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and then it says, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors...” Brother Gebel was saying that if he had written that prayer, he would first have put, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” and afterward he would have said, “And give us our daily bread.” And he said that he said this because people often have the impression that, in order to receive something from God, we first need to be forgiven; we first need to experience forgiveness in order to receive something God may have for us. And you know what? The correction he made was precisely this: God, as a Father, does not bargain over bread with his children. If you are a father, if you are a mother, no matter what your son or daughter may have done—if they took twenty dollars from your wallet and you noticed but did not say anything, if they kicked someone at school, or if they stole something from somewhere—you are not going to bargain over bread with your child.

You will always have your table prepared, and you will say, “Come, let’s eat first, and then we will settle accounts.” We eat at the table now; perhaps we will have an annoyed, long face, but we are going to eat. Bread is not withheld, and afterward we will go into the living room and talk. You know what? God does the same with every one of us. God does not bargain over bread with any of his sons and daughters. If there is something there that is troublesome, if there is something there that keeps us from receiving those things God has for us and that we believe ourselves unworthy of, you know what? God does not bargain over his bread with you; what he has for you is there for you. The promises he has for your life are there over your life. He gives them; he distributes them to everyone without any prejudice. He gives them. He gives them, but you know what? I want you to applaud at this part now. Applaud—please, applaud. No, but let me say it first. You can applaud for this: God gives the bread no matter what, but afterward God is going to say to you, “But we have to settle accounts.” Applaud for that now.

Listen, do you know what you are applauding? Are you perfectly clear about what you are applauding? You know that this is how I am; I am very straightforward, and I tell it to you like it is. I mean, if someone tells me, “Applaud for that,” I am like, “Oh boy, we are going to settle accounts with God.” But you know what, my brothers and sisters? The way God settles accounts with us is not the same way we settle accounts with one another. There is a verse in the Bible that I like very much, which is also very strong, and it says, “It is time for the judgment of God to begin, and for it to begin with the house of God.”

And when it speaks of that judgment, it does not mean that God is going to come with a three-inch leather belt and give us a whipping, or perhaps, in the case of some people, an electrical cord or something like that, as may have happened to some of you—those traumas you carry from your past. Oh, no. But when I think about that, my brothers and sisters, that God wants to deal with his children, God wants to deal with every one of us, God has an intention in his heart, God is determined, so to speak. When God wants to do something with you, God is going to find a way to do it. And you know what? God can use any situation in your life to ensure that his plan and purpose are fulfilled in you. God is going to use anything—even if the devil himself comes near and wants to harm your life, God has the power to say, “You know what? You want to bother my sons and my daughters? Go ahead, do it. I know what is going to come out of it. I know what is going to come out of that sifting of wheat. I know what is going to come out of that shaking. Something will come out of it that I will use with even greater power.”

So, brothers and sisters, I want us to think about something now. If these are things that God often allows—and I am not saying that this is true in most cases—do not start thinking now, “Oh, God, why do you give the devil permission to bother me?” Whatever your situation may be, you know it better than I do, but whatever your situation may be, why do you give the devil permission? Hey, God knows it; God knows your situation. Trust in him and not in the devil. So put your trust in him.

But you know what? This is where I refer to that message the pastor shared with us last Sunday. Those three tools he spoke about: that blood of the Lamb that covers us and cleanses us from all sin; that word of our testimony, my brothers and sisters, because the testimony of your life is continually and fully developing—the drama of your life, that soap opera, whatever title you give it: “My soap opera is called ‘Kathy,’” or “My soap opera is called ‘Juan Pablo de las Casas.’” Whatever your soap opera may be called, you can even give it whatever theme song you want; God is at work in that soap opera, and that soap opera is the word of your testimony, of how God works and operates in you, of how perhaps, in some chapter, you came across a part that says, “Wow, I really messed up badly here, but God took it upon himself to restore my life in a way I never imagined, and now here I am, serving him.”

That is the word of our testimony, and then there is this matter of not loving our lives even unto death: that we do not regard our lives as something we cling to so tightly, but instead put God’s desires ahead of our own desires; we put what he wants for our lives ahead of what we want for our own lives, and God manifests and glorifies himself in the midst of every one of those things. And you know what, my brothers and sisters? To that I add one more tool, and that is the tool of prayer.

And here I want to pause for a moment. I feel in my heart that I should pause here, my brothers and sisters. You know, when I see Jesus himself telling Peter, “Peter, you know what? I have prayed for you. I have made a direct connection, much better than Verizon... Internet, whatever, much better than that, and I have made a direct connection with Father to intercede for you.”

You know what? It fills me with encouragement to know that I have Jesus interceding on my behalf, that I have a Jesus who is interceding on behalf of every one of you. And that sets an example for me, showing me that I must seek God in prayer even more and that I cannot, my brothers and sisters, take the matter of prayer lightly in my life.

You know what? I imagine you remember Father’s Day Sunday, almost a month ago, and I share this as a testimony: I was there in that corner, praying, brothers and sisters, and I can tell you that the Spirit of God descended upon me in a way I had not experienced for a long time. And I wanted to get up from the floor, but I could not, my brothers and sisters. My legs could not hold me up. It had been a long time since I had experienced something like that. And I do remember glimpses of things. I remember that at one point Brother Gonzalo said, “Let’s pray for Pastor Omar, who is over there drunk in the Presence,” and I did not know whether I was drunk in the presence of God or what. What I do know, my brothers and sisters, is that God was bringing a number of things out before me, and I can tell you that he said to me, “Omar, I want to restore your life. I want to use you greatly, but these things have to be dealt with.” That was why I was crying there at that altar, because many of the things God began to bring out before me caused me pain; I can say that many of them even made me feel ashamed, but I could keep hearing God’s whisper: “I want to restore you so I can use you.”

And you know what, my brothers and sisters? I am sure God wants to do the same with many people here. But we have to open ourselves to that touch of God in our lives. You know what? That weekend was glorious. The pastor issued a call to prayer for us to come here on Monday to pray. Brothers and sisters, I can tell you that I was amazed to see this sanctuary fill up on a Monday night, as full as it is right now. How many of you were here that Monday? Look at that—great. Those who were not here will just have to receive the blessing from others.

But you know what, my brothers and sisters? That was a glorious Monday, and my heart was so joyful and glad to see the church make a sacrifice like that, coming on a Monday night to set aside time to seek God in prayer, to intercede, to praise him, and to glorify him. I was on fire that night. I was all fired up that night. I could see myself saying, “Lord, give us more of this; give us more.”

But you know what? Just as frankly as I say that, I also ask myself, “Church, what is happening to us that this is not taking place more often?” Why do we have to wait for a special call to prayer on a Monday night, when we know that every Wednesday night we have a time of prayer here at church? We do not have to wait for a special call saying, “Let’s pray on Monday night so that the Spirit of God will come upon us here,” because we all have that opportunity on a day that is already established, so to speak, in the church’s schedule.

And brothers and sisters, it is not that I am throwing a bucket of cold water on you, although in part I sometimes am. The thing is, brothers and sisters, that we have to understand that God is calling us as a church to great things, and our pursuit of him cannot take place only in our individual time. “Ah, but Pastor Omar, you do not know—I pray at home every night.” Fantastic, my brother; keep praying every night, and please remember me in your prayers too. But as a church, as a body, we need to seek God. We cannot settle for what happens here only on Sundays; we have to set aside that time. Those are the times, my brothers and sisters, when we make that sacrifice and God rewards it in ways that only he knows how to accomplish.

And look, my brothers and sisters, I do not dismiss the fact that I know there are people here who work at night, who sometimes have two or three jobs, who find it difficult to get someone to watch their children and all of that. Look, I recognize that. But at the same time, my brothers and sisters, I dare to say that we have to make the sacrifice; we have to make the effort to seek God at those times if we truly want to see his hand at work among us.

Brothers and sisters, we cannot stop praying. Just as Jesus never stopped praying for his disciples, neither can we stop praying so that we may see those things God has appointed for every one of us as a church, for every one of you as individuals and as families. We have—we have to give that to the Lord and use those times of prayer, my brothers and sisters, as one of those tools, as one of those weapons, so that we do not allow the enemy to get his way among us, but instead ensure that whatever sifting takes place, takes place for the glory of God in our lives.

Look, brothers and sisters, I say this—and this is the title of my sermon; I am saying it at the end—I want a church that is sifted like wheat for the glory and honor of God. Whatever instrument God may want to use—it may be my dog, it may be a neighbor, it may be Pastor Greg, it may be the devil himself whom God wants to use—may God allow it to happen. But I know that if I trust in the will of God, if I trust in his purposes, if I trust and believe in his sovereignty and that he can see beyond the end of my nose, then, look, let it happen; let the sifting take place, no matter how difficult it may be, my brothers and sisters.

And brothers and sisters, my knees are trembling as I say this—I’m not lying to you—because I know it is not easy to say what I am saying. That saying goes, “easier said than done,” easier to say than to do or live out. I acknowledge that reality, and I know—I look around me here, and I know—that there are people here struggling with serious, intense, painful things, things they would not wish on anyone in their lives; at least, I hope they would not wish them on anyone in their lives. But I know, I know, I know that there are people here struggling with very difficult things; but my brother, receive this word from the Lord: that sifting will work for the honor and glory of Daddy, who has chosen you. It will work for the honor and glory of God as he manifests himself in the midst of your life, so that you can then reach that new level he is calling you to reach.

We cannot settle for what we are experiencing now: those thoughts that so often paralyze us, those thoughts that say, “My life is worthless; I’m going to throw myself off the .... Bridge, and that will be the end of everything.” No, no, no, no, no. That very thought, if you surrender it to God, can serve to help you build up the life of another person who may be going through the same thing—and who knows, perhaps something even worse.

I invite you to stand up, my brother, and I want to say a very brief prayer here and now, because I know we have Holy Communion and we want to share it, but I want you to think about this. I want you to close your eyes and imagine Jesus before you. Imagine Jesus before you, saying, “My son, my daughter, you have been faithful. You have remained there on the path; you have endured; you have stood firm; and I have great things for you. But at the same time, I tell you that the enemy is asking for permission to trouble your life. The enemy is seeking a way, like a roaring lion, to destroy you, to eliminate you, to find a way to keep you from believing in the promises God has for you.” And you know what? God gives him that permission because he knows what he has placed in you. God knows that he is strong. God knows that his power is greater than the power your enemy has over your life. God knows that whatever scheme the enemy has attempted against you, God can use it to turn your life into a blessing—so that your life can be a blessing to others, but also so that you yourself can experience that same blessing.

Brothers and sisters, please, let us receive this word. Let us not take it for granted; let it not go in one ear and out the other. Let us think deeply about these words, about this challenge. This is a challenge that comes directly from Jesus; it is a warning he brings concerning our lives. The Lord tells us plainly: the Christian life is not a bed of roses; it is not all perfume; it is not all peaches and carrots; it is not all cheesecake. The Christian life is not like that. The Christian life also has its struggles. If you have decided to be a disciple of mine, mine, the Lord’s, get ready, because in the world you will have affliction. But the Lord tells you that he has overcome the world, and that victory he has won over the world he gives to you; he shares it with you; he allows you to live in that same victory. Believe that word, my brother; make it your own. Receive it, live it, get up breathing that word day after day. Do not take it for granted. Do not take your life for granted. You are a Christian when you are walking down Massachusetts Avenue on your way to school. You are a Christian; you are a son, a daughter of God. When your friends invite you to go to a party at God knows which nightclub, and God knows what goes on there, God is with you at the moment you make that decision. And even if you decide to go to the party, you know what? God will be with you there too, because he does not leave you or forsake you; he is with you wherever you go.

God is with you when you pray in the privacy of your home, and he is also with you when you pray here with the congregation. God has seen your struggles, and the Lord laughs in the midst of your struggles because he knows what will come out of them. He knows that a man, a woman, formed according to his image will emerge from them. He knows that those struggles will produce a man who stands firm, a woman who stands firm in the purposes God has for your life. You may be struggling with something, whatever it may be—an addiction. You may be struggling with an aspect of your character, with anger that is often out of control, so that you cannot tolerate or stand person “x” or person “y.” You may be dealing with many things, but you know what? Surrender them, surrender them, let them go. Do not carry them yourself. The Lord does not want you to carry them. Release them to him, and you will see how he will work in the midst of your life. Give your burdens to the Lord. Release them, breathe them out, vomit them out before the presence of God, and do not take them back; do not pick them up once again. Place them in him.

Lord Jesus, at this moment I ask that your Holy Spirit, Lord, seal these words in the hearts of my brothers and sisters. Father, may we not take lightly the challenge you give us, Lord, or the warning you give us. Perhaps some of these words do not sound very pleasant to our ears, Lord, but I believe they are words that come from you and from your heart, because you want to encourage your church. You want to keep your church forewarned, Lord. You want to keep your children forewarned about the evils that may be waiting for them around the corner, Lord. And I take this opportunity, my God, to rebuke every action of the enemy, Lord Jesus, that seeks to strike my brothers and sisters down to a level they cannot endure, because I also declare what your word says: that you do not give us a burden so heavy that we cannot carry it, Jesus. You know how much we can endure, Jesus. And perhaps right now there are men and women here saying, “Wow, Lord, you crossed the line, because this is far too heavy right now.”

But my brother, my sister, the Lord knows how much he allows you to go through. The Lord knows how much he allows you to endure. The Lord wants you to know that he is with you, that his love has not turned away from you or from your heart, and that he is ready to lift you up when you need him most. All you have to do is cry out to him, and he will answer you.

Father, strengthen the hearts of my brothers and sisters this afternoon. Establish us in the truth of your word, Lord. And just as you said, I repeat those same words: may the faith of my brothers and sisters not fail; may their faith not fail, Lord. May their faith not be completely drained away, my God, so that they totally forget you; rather, once they have strayed, may they return to you again and help build up and restore the lives of others around them. That is the kind of faith you place upon them today. It is a restoring faith; it is a faith that strengthens; it is a faith that launches us into those new levels you have for us.

And Lord, if we are sifted like wheat, it is for the honor and glory of your name. Let it be as you wish. Thank you, Lord. Amen.