Wrestling With God In Prayer

Genesis 32:3-8, 22-30

Have you ever faced an event in your life that you dreaded and feared so much that you were almost paralyzed with that fear and dread?  Many of us have had an occurrence or two like that. What do we do when faced with such an event? In our Scripture passage for today from the Book of Genesis, we will see when Jacob faced a trial like this, and what recourse he took to get through it.  Let’s take a look at this day in Jacob’s life and see what we can learn and apply to our lives when any greatly feared event may crop up in our own lives.

Earlier in the Book of Genesis we can read of Jacob’s story.  He was one of twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah, and a grandson of Abraham.  Esau, as the eldest, was entitled to the family birthright and the firstborn blessing.  However, Jacob was a deceiver, and he managed to trick his brother Esau in to giving up the birthright (the right to be the head of the family and spiritual leader), and also their father Isaac’s blessing for the firstborn, which held great significance.  Esau was a man with a quick and violent temper. He had sworn at that time that he would kill Jacob, causing him to flee from home, going many hundreds of miles away. That was over twenty years earlier. Since then, Jacob had a large family, and he had also grown spiritually, developing a relationship with Yahweh.  Now Jacob has taken his family and was moving them towards the land of Canaan, and then he heard that his brother Esau was coming with with a troop of several hundred men (vs. 6). Jacob was afraid of Esau. He feared that Esau had never forgiven or forgotten his deception of many years earlier.

What was Jacob to do?  Several hundred men led by violent Esau, against just Jacob and his family, and some servants.  Jacob then did what we need to learn to do when faced with dread and fearful occurrences in our own lives.  Jacob remembered what God had done for him in the past. Throughout his life God had led Jacob through many challenging trials and tests, which had increased his faith.  Jacob realized that this deliverance from Esau’s anger would be from God, not through his own strength or ingenuity. Instead of going to pieces in a panic, he went off alone to pray (vs. 24).

This was not just a quick five or even ten minute prayer.  Jacob was serious with God. His life and the lives of his family were at stake.  Not even an hour in prayer was enough. Jacob wrestled with God in deep prayer. He was not going to give up praying until he got an answer.  And while in prayer we read that a Man met him and wrestled with him until daybreak. This was not just any man, or even an angel. This was God, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ (vs. 24-26).  Jacob continued in this wrestling match with God all night. He was persistent in his prayers. God encourages persistence, including in spiritual matters.

We need to rouse ourselves when a situation calls for serious prayer with the Lord.  Pray, and pray again, and then again some more. Pray through. Jesus said to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking (Matthew 7:7).  Praying through is not overcoming God’s reluctance, for He is a prayer-answering God! It is conquering our own laziness, unbelief, and indifference.  We storm the gates of heaven, and also shape our desires until we want what God wants. It is pressing through whatever obstacles impede our petition, like the woman with the issue of blood did when she broke through the crowds to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment (Mark 5:25-34).

After this time of wrestling with God in prayer, Jacob’s name was changed from Jacob, which meant “deceiver” to Israel, which meant “he struggles with God” (vs. 28).  Jacob emerged victorious from this struggle. God gave many people in the Bible new names - Abram to Abraham, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul. Their new names were symbols of how God had changed their lives.  Jacob’s character had changed. He had once been an ambitious deceiver. Now he struggled with God in prayer and overcame his fears. Let’s also be persistent in our prayers, not giving up in fear or discouragement, but press on as Jacob did, until we hear from God.