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The Prayer Battle

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:24-30).

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Take a few lessons from Jacob:

  • You may feel alone: press on and press through. God is right there.
  • Persevere or wrestle in prayer.
  • Wrestling demonstrated Jacob’s faith. He had an unshakable confidence and trust in a divine promise.
  • We are called upon to be in spiritual warfare.
  • Don’t give up until God blesses you.
  • God answers prayer. Jacob asked for a blessing. He got it!
  • God may not change your name, but He will change your circumstances, or give you the grace to see you through.
  • Jacob became a prince with power. We are a royal priesthood.
  • He walked away with a limp. This showed his dependence on God.

“God meets us at whatever level He finds us in order to lift us to where He wants us to be. To Abraham the pilgrim, God came as a traveler (Genesis 18); and to Joshua the general, He came as a soldier (Joshua 5:13-15). Jacob had spent most of his adult life wrestling with people — Esau, Isaac, Laban, and even his wives — so God came to him as a wrestler. “With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd” (Psalms 18:26, NKJV).” (The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament © 2001-2004 by Warren W. Wiersbe).

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Prayer: The Short and Sweet of It

“And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude” (Genesis 32:9-12).

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Jacob provides one of the earliest examples of prayer in God’s Word. Here’s what I noticed:

  • It is short, sincere, and straight (focused on getting an answer).
  • It is considered one of the greatest prayers in Scripture.
  • It was prayed by a man weak in faith.
  • It was prayed in desperation and fear. Both should drive us to our knees.
  • It was an appeal to God as standing in a covenant relationship.
  • It rested totally in God’s character.
  • It exposed his knowledge of God’s ways.
  • It encouraged him through remembering what God had already done.

One of the merits of pleading the promises is “the best we can say to God in prayer is what He has said to us.” God’s promises “furnish us with the best petitions, so they are the firmest ground of our hopes” (Matthew Henry).

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Looking at the Wishing Well

“And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them” (Genesis 26:18).

“And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well” (Genesis 26:24-25).

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Water is essential for life. In ancient days people either lived near a river or a lake or dug a well. Wells provide for a man, his family, and his livestock. But, it also indicated he was going to stay in that location for some time.

Well Name – Geror
Well Meaning – “Dragged off.”
Where has God dragged you to? Do you feel lonely, lost, helpless and hopeless? Isaac went back to the proven wells his father had dug.

Well Name – Esek
Well Meaning – “Contention.”
What contentions are you facing? Instead of moaning and groaning keep traveling on knowing that God is with you.

Well Name – Sitnah
Well Meaning – “Strife.”
Are people mistreating you and you don’t know how much more you can take? Don’t allow these distractions to blind you from what God can do for you.

Well Name – Rehoboth
Well Meaning – “Wide Places.”
God has a place of rest for you.

Well Name – Beersheba
Well Meaning – “Well of an oath.”
Build an altar and offer your sacrifice. Spend time with God. Call on Him. He will answer you. Pitch your tent. Realize you are right where God wants you. (Same well as below).

Well Name – Shibah
Well Meaning – “Oath.”
God will be with you and bless you. (Adapted from a study on Genesis 26:14-33 by David Humpal.”

The wells Isaac and his servants dug were symbolic. From them we can learn lessons of how to survive through life’s circumstances; especially adversity. They show us that we should be willing and ready to move on to new areas of our lives.

photo credit: Gwenaël Piaser via photopin cc

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The Lord will Provide

Abraham was not lying to his servants when he said, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” He firmly believed that the two of them would come again. He spoke words of faith and exemplified obedience.

As Abraham and Isaac climb the mountain a ram climbs the other side of the mountain. Someone has said, “For every step Abraham takes toward the top the ram also takes a step. And it was God’s plan all along that they meet in the same place at the same time for the same purpose.”

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Isaac was not a little boy. He was a full grown man. According to Josephus he was about twenty-seven. It seems he shared his father’s confidence and faith in the promises and provisions of God. He willingly allowed his old father to tie him there. After all, Isaac’s very existence was a direct result of God keeping His word.

“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood” (Genesis 22:9).

Of course, God did not allow Abraham to take the life of his beloved son. With the knife raised, positioned to come down, God stopped him. God doesn’t require a burnt, human sacrifice from us. But, he does asking us to present ourselves a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).

This story is also prophetic that the Lamb of God would provide Himself a sacrifice. Perhaps, it is a glimpse of Calvary when the Lamb would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (Genesis 22:13-14).

God tests us so that we can learn to trust Him. You may feel like you are climbing a mountain alone, struggling with each step, worried about what the summit will bring. Remember, God’s provision is already on its way. The Lord will provide. The ram will be at the top. As “Jehovah-Jireh” God provides our needs.

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Leaving Everything in God’s Hands

What challenges, hindrances, or disadvantages hang over your head at this stage of your faith journey?

Pick up a newspaper. Tune into a radio station. Surf the Net. Dreary stories are plentiful. The economy plummets. Terrorists provoke panic. Political chaos prevails. Extortionists plunder. Calamities produce pressure. The future is pessimistic. It would be easy to be caught in despair, depression, and desperation. It’s a fact. We live in unsettling times.

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When looking at the future it is easy to think of one word to describe it: “unknown.” I love this famous poem, written by Minnie Louise Harkins and used in the end-of-the-year message of King George VI, in 1939:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
’
Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’

And he replied,
‘Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!’

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

I’m not sure what you may be going through, or what may be taking place in your lives individually, or with your families. Put your hand into the hand of our all-knowing God and walk into the unknown. Abraham did and thousands of years later we are still telling the story.

God is in control. Someone said, “Those that see God’s hand in everything, best leave everything in God’s hand.”

One senior minister earnestly prayed repeatedly, “I put my tiny, little hand into your big, big hand.”

How true!

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