What does it mean when Jesus reports, "Satan has asked to sift you?" How does this relate to spiritual warfare?
Spiritual Warfare Made Simple, Chapter 12, Part 1
Chapter 12: Seeing This in All of Scripture
To keep the book as approachable as possible, we did not cover every verse on spiritual warfare in Scripture. We covered only what was necessary to establish the three key principles, knowing that these three truths can lead you to clarity and success in any spiritual warfare endeavor.
Yet, in the time since we published the first edition in 2023, many readers have asked about particular verses they encountered, wondering how they integrate with these three principles.
In this chapter, we’ll address many of these verses. Each time, we’ll explain how the principles of this book explain what’s going on in these verses, highlighting that spiritual warfare really is simple to understand.
We’ll break this chapter up into smaller sections to make it easier to digest, and better fit the format of the blog.
The first part follows.
“Satan has asked to sift you”
On the last night before Jesus went to the Cross, when all the powers of darkness were marshaling against Him, Jesus warned Simon Peter:
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.” (Luke 22:31 BSB).
God is sovereign.
Satan desperately wants to attack each of Jesus’ disciples, especially Simon Peter.
So what does he do? Does Satan use his role as “ruler of this world” to freely attack Jesus’ disciples in this world?
No. He can’t.
Satan must ask God for permission.
Satan doesn’t have dominion. If Satan had dominion over this world, he could do whatever he wanted. That’s what it means to have dominion. But Satan isn’t free. He can’t even touch Simon Peter without begging God for permission.
God is sovereign. The devil is not.
Further, consider: why does Jesus warn Simon Peter?
Because Simon has dominion over his own life.
Jesus warns Simon that Satan wants to sift him. Jesus then gives Simon specific instructions when they make it to the Garden of Gethsemane, to “pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22: 40 ESV).
Why warn Simon? Why give him these instructions?
Because Simon Peter has dominion over his own life. He can block Satan’s desire to sift him.
If Simon Peter had remained awake and prayed as Jesus did, then he would have been filled with strength, as Jesus was. Simon could have been as indomitable as Jesus was while under trial.
Satan wanted to sift Simon like wheat.
But Simon could have used his dominion to prevent that, if he had submitted to Jesus’ instruction to stay awake and pray.
This post comprises the first part of Chapter 12 of my book Spiritual Warfare Made Simple. We’ll cover the entire book in this series of blog posts, along with additional content and Q&A. If you’d like a permanent copy for yourself or a friend, you can grab the ebook or paperback here!
