I have prayed for you

When you know that your faith is going to get sifted like wheat on the day, remember that Jesus is actively praying for you.

Behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,  but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. - Luke 22:31-32 

One thing to note - be sure to understand what 'sifting' means. In those times, sifting of wheat was comprised of two steps - threshing and winnowing. Threshing entailed spreading the wheat out over a hard surface and then being beaten with a stick or rolled over with a heavy stone to loosen the chaff from the grain. Winnowing entailed separating the chaff from the grain through a filter.

Jesus' illustration is about Peter's faith. Satan is about to come hard and fast at him and Peter's faith is going to get bludgeoned to the point where he denies Jesus three times. But in the midst of this bludgeoning, Jesus says he is actively praying that Peter's faith will not fail completely; that is, will not be totally separated from him the way chaff is separated from the kernel.

This is great encouragement to me. When a challenge comes, and you know full well that it is about to come, we can be assured that Satan will attempt to separate our faith from us like wheat gets sifted. But we can cling to the fact that when it happens, Jesus is interceding for us that our faith will not be fully torn away, that rope of salvation that He has wrapped around us will remain secure and unfailing. We will make it.

And then, when we realize that Jesus is still our salvation, we can go and testify to His faithfulness and strengthen others who need it as well.