Have you stumbled? We are focusing on the prayer dialogue with Jesus that lifts you up from the place where you fell.

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Matthew 16:21-27 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’ Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS."

Peter didn’t agree with Jesus. Peter tried to correct Jesus. God the Father, tell Jesus He is wrong and don’t permit it to happen. At that time Peter believed that it was possible for God the Father and Jesus to not always agree in everything. Peter had stumbled and fallen in his thinking long before this confrontation. Is your thinking in agreement with Jesus? Pray that Jesus shows you where your beliefs contradict Him.

Peter declared that what Jesus said would never happen. Why did Peter say that? he was convinced that his own belief was right and Jesus had to be wrong. Why was Peter convinced he was right? Here’s why. The scriptures clearly state that Messiah would come and the leaders would support Him and place Him over them and He would reign over all the earth. The problem was that Peter was only partially right. What he ignored was what would happen before Jesus physically reigned over the earth. Are you believing half-truths and trying to force that on others? Pray that Jesus shows you the whole truth.

Peter couldn’t see what was to happen first. Roughly 2,000 years before, God led Abraham to take Isaac on a rehearsal of Messiah’s death on the cross. Abraham put the wood on Isaac’s back and Isaac carried it up to the same place where Jesus would be crucified. Roughly 2,000 years later, Jesus claimed what Abraham rehearsed on Mount Moriah was an example of Jesus’ day to go to the cross. The Messiah would carry the wood and go up to Mount Moriah and die on top of that wood and be raised from the dead. It was hidden for 2,000 years so that Jesus would arrive and claim it for Himself. The veil over Peter’s eyes at that time is the same veil over the eyes of the jewish people even today. They are right to say that Messiah will reign over all the world, but the cross had to come first.

Jesus was confronting their thoughts. The disciples eventually understood and believed Jesus. Judas however, did not change his mind. He betrayed Jesus believing that Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah if He was to die first.

Get behind Me, Satan! Jesus spoke out loud and put the devil down. Jesus’ words always achieve their stated purpose. At the same time Jesus spoke, He was looking at Peter. He confronted the devil and He confronted Peter. Peter declared he knew things better than Jesus, so Jesus put Peter beneath Him with one phrase. These moments of confrontation are hard, but for the sake of freedom they are worth it. Pride is what blinds you. Pray that Jesus puts you in a humble place with a declaration from Him so that you no longer stumble in your thinking. Pray that Jesus puts the devil in his place and silences him. All Jesus has to do is declare it, and the devil has to obey.

Your thinking can be a stumbling block to Jesus. Jesus wasn’t fitting into Peter’s version of who Peter thought the Messiah should be. Peter actively took his thinking and tried to force it onto Jesus. He was trying to force Jesus to stumble into Peter’s own fallen condition. Peter was going his own way. Will you follow Jesus even if Jesus does things you don’t agree with? You have truly stumbled in your thinking when you follow only your ideas about Jesus, but can’t follow Jesus just for who He is. What Peter believed was more important to him than Jesus Himself.

This became the moment of truth. Jesus rebukes Peter and forced Him to choose which path he would walk on. Do you know how terrible it would be to hear Jesus rebuke satan as He is looking at you? Wouldn’t you think He is calling you satan? And if you figured out that He is actually just rebuking satan, why is He looking at you when He does it? Peter was following satan in his thinking. He was deceived. When you follow a lie, you are being deceived by satan. When you stumble in your thinking and are going the wrong way, you really do want Jesus to confront you with the truth. You also want Jesus to rebuke satan, even if that makes you feel uncomfortable. You need a moment of truth. Pray Jesus confronts you and brings you clarity about your current condition. Pray that Jesus rebukes satan for you in order to silence the lies that come against you in your mind. That’s just the beginning of freedom. The answer is next.

Jesus gives the answer for when you stumble in your mind. Jesus confronted Peter and said he was only going after human interests. He was not setting his mind on God’s purpose and where Jesus was going. There are three things Jesus says you have to do to follow Him.

First, deny yourself. You make all your own decisions. You are the master of your own life. Each day, surrender your right to choose for yourself and include Jesus in your decision making. Include Jesus in every decision you make and He will direct you into freedom. Pray that you hear the thoughts from Jesus directing you in each decision. Pray for a gift to discern which thoughts are from Jesus.

Second, take up your cross. The journey with Jesus includes difficulty and there will be those who will hate you, but Jesus is right in front of you leading the way. Jesus’ burden on you to follow Him is a burden, but it’s much lighter than following the world. Ask Jesus for the confidence to follow Him even when it’s difficult.

Third, actually follow Jesus. You are following Jesus, not just a book that talks about Him. You aren’t just going to a church service. You are not following me or some religious leader. You are to follow Jesus directly in your own life. Deny your right to choose for yourself throughout each day and choose to do what Jesus wants you to do. You will find out very quickly what things are holding you down. In order to lift your burdens, Jesus will show you all your sin and set you free as you follow Him. Ask Jesus to give you the strength to surrender your sin and follow Him wholeheartedly.

The other paths lead to death and judgment. This is an absolute warning from Jesus. Any other path you take leads to death and separation from God. If you follow Jesus, He leads you into true life. Jesus declares several absolute statements. First, if you try to save your own life without Jesus, you will lose it. Second, if you lay your life down and die to yourself to follow Jesus, you will find life. Third, there is no benefit and no profit if you gain the world and what it offers, but forfeit your soul. If you take another path without Jesus, you are forfeiting your soul for nothing that lasts. Are you willing to give yourself to Jesus in exchange for your soul, in order to have life with Jesus forever? Fifth, Jesus is going to come in the glory of God the Father with His angels, and will repay everyone according to what they have chosen to do. After you die it is too late. You will stand before Jesus and He will evaluate your entire life and repay you for everything you have done.

Prayer coaching: “Jesus, show (me) where my beliefs contradict You. Show (me) the whole truth. Put (me) in a humble place with a declaration from You, so that I no longer stumble in my thinking. Put the devil in his place and silence his lies for me. Declare my freedom and give me peace in my mind. May (I) hear Your thoughts directing men in each decision I face. Give (me) a gift to discern which thoughts are from You. Give (me) confidence to follow You even when it’s difficult. Give (me) the strength to surrender my sin and follow You wholeheartedly.”