In Jesus' day, women sifted wheat by grasping a sieve in both hands and shaking it forcefully from side to side. Then they would move the sieve in a seesaw motion while blowing over the wheat to remove the chaff. It was a vigorous process.

This is the picture the Lord used to warn His disciples of the great testing they would face when He went to the cross. They would be like the wheat, and the sifter would be their powerful enemy Satan.

Then Jesus singled out Peter. He told him, "I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail" (Lk. 22:32). But wasn't Peter's denial (vv.54-62) a failure of his faith? Noted theologian G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "His faith did not fail . . . when he was denying his Master. Neither did his love fail. What did fail? His hope, . . . and when hope is gone, courage fails and man becomes a coward."

Perhaps hardship has caused us to "deny" the Lord. Like Peter, we still love Jesus, but oh, how shameful our actions!

All is not lost. The Lord told Peter, "When you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren" (v.32). Those words meant forgiveness, restoration, and a new opportunity for service. Satan's sifting couldn't thwart Jesus' praying. And that is true for us as well as for Peter.  — Dennis J. De Haan