As Rio Olympics sinks into history our minds are still fresh with scenes of wrestling, especially with a bronze for India. We find a wrestling match in the Bible too. The wrestlers were Jacob and God. What’s interesting about it is that Jacob won the match. Before we come to the incident itself, let us see what it means to wrestle with God to experience aREVIVAL IN OUR PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE.
Let’s read Isaiah’s lamentation about the lethargy in the prayer life of Christians. “There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself to take hold of You” (Isa 64:7). This speaks about a person’s personal prayer life. The prophet could not find even a single person who was willing to rouse himself from him slack prayer life to call on God’s name and catch hold of Him. God is close to us, but we are not enthusiastic enough to get hold of Him. If we do not pray, we cannot take hold of God. Prayer is holding God in our grip.
For revival in our prayer lives, we should pray, pray and pray. There is no other way. If you sleep in prayer, pray when you wake up. If your mind wanders, pray when you arrest your wandering thoughts. Never give up praying. Then you’ll find revival in your prayer life.
Let’s now come to the wrestling match in Genesis chapter 32. Jacob wins the quarter finals and is assured of a bronze when he won over his father-in-law (Gen 31:55). As he enters Semifinals, he recounts God’s promises for victory: “I will make you prosper” (32:9). Jacob was scared. Very scared and panicked thinking about Esau. At that juncture he made a vital decision. He thought the solution to the problem was in spending time ALONE WITH GOD and take hold of Him. So he sent everyone across the brook, including his family (Gen 32:24). He had rightly understood the teaching of Jesus, “to go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father” (Mt 6:6). Jacob is now ready for the semifinals. His opponent enters the ring. The match lasted till daybreak.
“A man wrestled with him till daybreak” (Gen 32:23). It was not a chance encounter but a choice encounter. The man did not come to meet him when he was in company. But when Jacob was alone He met him. It was a personal, one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat. It was a tough match and about to end in a draw. But his opponent, seeing that He could not get the best of Jacob, threw Jacob’s hip out of joint. Surely He was a powerful opponent.
What would anybody do in such a scenario, when pain shoots through his body? He would immediately relax the grip instinctively, unable to stand the pain. But Jacob would not let go of his quarry. Now the man is crying for mercy: “Let me go, for it is daybreak,” He pleads. But Jacob, having his clutch still on Him would not budge. He had the audacity to tell God: “I will not let You go unless You bless me” (32:26).
After asking his name, the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with humans and have overcome ... Then He blessed him there” (32:28,29). Yippeee! The whistle is blown. The umpire lifts up Jacob’s hand and declares him the winner! The man blessed Jacob, the way the loser shakes hands with the winner, and exited the ring.
Suddenly it dawned on Jacob that, it was not some man but God who met him face-to-face! (Gen 32:30). God blessed him graciously and sent him for the finals, before He left Jacob.
Let’s read the prophet Hosea’s version of the incident: “In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame Him; he wept and begged for His favour. He found Him at Bethel and talked with Him there — the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is His name” (Hos 12:3-5). It was a serious time of intercession with tears.
Even though the man did not tell His name, now we know He was the Lord God Almighty! Jacob had wept and begged to be blessed! He used no bombastic language. His eyes were shedding tears, lips begging for blessing, hands holding on to God and hip in pain! The pain of the dislocated hip did not deter his faith or silence his prayer. The answer was long to come — till daybreak!
Sometimes we feel we cannot even pray for one hour. How to hold on to God till daybreak? What to pray for, for so long? This is where we need the help of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul says, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Rom 8:26,27). We need to ask God for the spirit of supplication. Wrestling believers may experience glorious victories but often suffer broken bones. How many of us have relaxed our grip on God when some pain overpowers us? Let come what may in life, hang on to God.
I want to disclose to you two wonders of prayer life that Jacob discovered in His tryst with God. If you understand the two you cannot but be revived in your prayer life.
1. Jacob found out that whenever he went to God to pray, God was there for Him. When he walked into the night, out of nowhere God appeared. When he went walking, God come running. He came close enough to be caught by Jacob. Was He not begging Jacob to let Him go? Then why did He come too close to be caught? He had to compulsarily come close to Jacob to keep His promise.
See Dt 4:7, “What other nation is there that has God near them the way the Lord our God is near us, whenever we pray to Him, for whatever reason?” (I have combined NKJV and NIV). In all other religions a person has to get ready and go to the place of worship to pray to their God.
So you see, whenever we call on Him, for whatever reason, He is near us, so that we can take hold of Him. Now do you understand why Isaiah lamented that there was no one interested to call on Him to take hold of Him? (Isa 64:7).
When you kneel down and clasp your hands in prayer, think that you are holding God tight with your clasped hands.
2. The second fact that Jacob took advantage of was that God could not go when he was talking to Him. Why was the Almighty God pleading with Jacob to let Him go? Cannot the God of heaven and earth kick him off and go His way? He can, but He cannot! He will not.
God is bound when His child is praying to Him. Our prayer arrests God’s attention. God has no calls waiting when He’s got you on line. He has committed Himself to listen to His children. Only when Jacob let Him go, He could go. That is the power of prayer! He is a gentleman. He will not walk off, when you are talking to him. In fact, He longs for His children to be talking to Him.
Then why did He say, “Let Me go”? Why did He weaken Jacob so that he would release his grip on Him? God was testing Jacob’s faith and perseverence. Jacob would not let Him go unless He blessed him! It was prevailing prayer. God blessed him there in his prayer closet. What Jacob wrestled for, he got — Blessing! Thus he qualified for the final. He wrestled with God and humans and prevailed. He had learnt the secret of prevailing prayer.
He went to talk to God as Jacob the deceiver; but came back as Israel, Prince with God. The transformation happens in our prayer closet, on our knees. The blessing of Jacob continues even today. He is still Prince with God. We don’t hear of a Canaanite, Hittite or Perizzite today. But Israel is sitting in the centre of the world! Israel today is a land of about six million Jews surrounded by a sea of 150 million enemies, eager to devour. If you learn the secret of prayer and become a prince with God, no Esau can stand against you.
Now Jacob has no reason to worry about his limp. He has got what he wanted—Blessing. With God’s blessing, winning the gold was child’s play. Esau was flat before the limping Jacob.
“Epaphras ... is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Col 4:12). Prayer is no idle man’s job, it is wrestling.
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission” (Heb 5:7). Prayer squeezes the blood out of you.
Jacob called on God’s name and stirred himself to reach out to God (Isa 64:7). Thus he witnessed a revival in his personal prayer life. “The sun rose above him” (Gen 32:31). Revival broke forth! He was out of the night, into daylight! He had gone from life to abundant life (Jn 10:10).
Paul, Peter, Epaphras and Jesus prayed in inconvenient places, under adverse circumstances. They prayed in prison, hands and feet shackled, in gardens, in ships among cargo and in the wilderness. But we can’t even pray under the fan or a/c . We cannot expect unusual results for our usual prayers. Our prayer must be unusual.
Lift up your hands and pray: kneel and pray; wake up and pray; prostrate yourself on the floor and pray; walk and pray; pray aloud; pray with your prayer diary open in front of you; pray with the newspaper spread out before you; join together with someone and pray; give priority and pray. Pray, pray, pray! And you will shake the world.
Don’t have your eyes on the bronze in your prayer life; aim for gold!
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91-416-2242943, +91-416-2248943
hq@bymonline.org
www.bymonline.org
Click here for more options
To buy books written by Dr. Lilian Stanley, kindly reach to us in the follwing address
Blessing Literature Centre
21/11 West Coovam River Road,
Chintadripet,
Chennai 600 002, India.
+91-44-28450411, 8806270699
blc@bymonline.org
As Rio Olympics sinks into history our minds are still fresh with scenes of wrestling, especially with a bronze for India. We find a wrestling match in the Bible too. The wrestlers were Jacob and God. What’s interesting about it is that Jacob won the match. Before we come to the incident itself, let us see what it means to wrestle with God to experience aREVIVAL IN OUR PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE.
Let’s read Isaiah’s lamentation about the lethargy in the prayer life of Christians. “There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself to take hold of You” (Isa 64:7). This speaks about a person’s personal prayer life. The prophet could not find even a single person who was willing to rouse himself from him slack prayer life to call on God’s name and catch hold of Him. God is close to us, but we are not enthusiastic enough to get hold of Him. If we do not pray, we cannot take hold of God. Prayer is holding God in our grip.
For revival in our prayer lives, we should pray, pray and pray. There is no other way. If you sleep in prayer, pray when you wake up. If your mind wanders, pray when you arrest your wandering thoughts. Never give up praying. Then you’ll find revival in your prayer life.
Let’s now come to the wrestling match in Genesis chapter 32. Jacob wins the quarter finals and is assured of a bronze when he won over his father-in-law (Gen 31:55). As he enters Semifinals, he recounts God’s promises for victory: “I will make you prosper” (32:9). Jacob was scared. Very scared and panicked thinking about Esau. At that juncture he made a vital decision. He thought the solution to the problem was in spending time ALONE WITH GOD and take hold of Him. So he sent everyone across the brook, including his family (Gen 32:24). He had rightly understood the teaching of Jesus, “to go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father” (Mt 6:6). Jacob is now ready for the semifinals. His opponent enters the ring. The match lasted till daybreak.
“A man wrestled with him till daybreak” (Gen 32:23). It was not a chance encounter but a choice encounter. The man did not come to meet him when he was in company. But when Jacob was alone He met him. It was a personal, one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat. It was a tough match and about to end in a draw. But his opponent, seeing that He could not get the best of Jacob, threw Jacob’s hip out of joint. Surely He was a powerful opponent.
What would anybody do in such a scenario, when pain shoots through his body? He would immediately relax the grip instinctively, unable to stand the pain. But Jacob would not let go of his quarry. Now the man is crying for mercy: “Let me go, for it is daybreak,” He pleads. But Jacob, having his clutch still on Him would not budge. He had the audacity to tell God: “I will not let You go unless You bless me” (32:26).
After asking his name, the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with humans and have overcome ... Then He blessed him there” (32:28,29). Yippeee! The whistle is blown. The umpire lifts up Jacob’s hand and declares him the winner! The man blessed Jacob, the way the loser shakes hands with the winner, and exited the ring.
Suddenly it dawned on Jacob that, it was not some man but God who met him face-to-face! (Gen 32:30). God blessed him graciously and sent him for the finals, before He left Jacob.
Let’s read the prophet Hosea’s version of the incident: “In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame Him; he wept and begged for His favour. He found Him at Bethel and talked with Him there — the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is His name” (Hos 12:3-5). It was a serious time of intercession with tears.
Even though the man did not tell His name, now we know He was the Lord God Almighty! Jacob had wept and begged to be blessed! He used no bombastic language. His eyes were shedding tears, lips begging for blessing, hands holding on to God and hip in pain! The pain of the dislocated hip did not deter his faith or silence his prayer. The answer was long to come — till daybreak!
Sometimes we feel we cannot even pray for one hour. How to hold on to God till daybreak? What to pray for, for so long? This is where we need the help of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul says, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Rom 8:26,27). We need to ask God for the spirit of supplication. Wrestling believers may experience glorious victories but often suffer broken bones. How many of us have relaxed our grip on God when some pain overpowers us? Let come what may in life, hang on to God.
I want to disclose to you two wonders of prayer life that Jacob discovered in His tryst with God. If you understand the two you cannot but be revived in your prayer life.
1. Jacob found out that whenever he went to God to pray, God was there for Him. When he walked into the night, out of nowhere God appeared. When he went walking, God come running. He came close enough to be caught by Jacob. Was He not begging Jacob to let Him go? Then why did He come too close to be caught? He had to compulsarily come close to Jacob to keep His promise.
See Dt 4:7, “What other nation is there that has God near them the way the Lord our God is near us, whenever we pray to Him, for whatever reason?” (I have combined NKJV and NIV). In all other religions a person has to get ready and go to the place of worship to pray to their God.
So you see, whenever we call on Him, for whatever reason, He is near us, so that we can take hold of Him. Now do you understand why Isaiah lamented that there was no one interested to call on Him to take hold of Him? (Isa 64:7).
When you kneel down and clasp your hands in prayer, think that you are holding God tight with your clasped hands.
2. The second fact that Jacob took advantage of was that God could not go when he was talking to Him. Why was the Almighty God pleading with Jacob to let Him go? Cannot the God of heaven and earth kick him off and go His way? He can, but He cannot! He will not.
God is bound when His child is praying to Him. Our prayer arrests God’s attention. God has no calls waiting when He’s got you on line. He has committed Himself to listen to His children. Only when Jacob let Him go, He could go. That is the power of prayer! He is a gentleman. He will not walk off, when you are talking to him. In fact, He longs for His children to be talking to Him.
Then why did He say, “Let Me go”? Why did He weaken Jacob so that he would release his grip on Him? God was testing Jacob’s faith and perseverence. Jacob would not let Him go unless He blessed him! It was prevailing prayer. God blessed him there in his prayer closet. What Jacob wrestled for, he got — Blessing! Thus he qualified for the final. He wrestled with God and humans and prevailed. He had learnt the secret of prevailing prayer.
He went to talk to God as Jacob the deceiver; but came back as Israel, Prince with God. The transformation happens in our prayer closet, on our knees. The blessing of Jacob continues even today. He is still Prince with God. We don’t hear of a Canaanite, Hittite or Perizzite today. But Israel is sitting in the centre of the world! Israel today is a land of about six million Jews surrounded by a sea of 150 million enemies, eager to devour. If you learn the secret of prayer and become a prince with God, no Esau can stand against you.
Now Jacob has no reason to worry about his limp. He has got what he wanted—Blessing. With God’s blessing, winning the gold was child’s play. Esau was flat before the limping Jacob.
“Epaphras ... is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Col 4:12). Prayer is no idle man’s job, it is wrestling.
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission” (Heb 5:7). Prayer squeezes the blood out of you.
Jacob called on God’s name and stirred himself to reach out to God (Isa 64:7). Thus he witnessed a revival in his personal prayer life. “The sun rose above him” (Gen 32:31). Revival broke forth! He was out of the night, into daylight! He had gone from life to abundant life (Jn 10:10).
Paul, Peter, Epaphras and Jesus prayed in inconvenient places, under adverse circumstances. They prayed in prison, hands and feet shackled, in gardens, in ships among cargo and in the wilderness. But we can’t even pray under the fan or a/c . We cannot expect unusual results for our usual prayers. Our prayer must be unusual.
Lift up your hands and pray: kneel and pray; wake up and pray; prostrate yourself on the floor and pray; walk and pray; pray aloud; pray with your prayer diary open in front of you; pray with the newspaper spread out before you; join together with someone and pray; give priority and pray. Pray, pray, pray! And you will shake the world.
Don’t have your eyes on the bronze in your prayer life; aim for gold!
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91-416-2242943, +91-416-2248943
hq@bymonline.org
www.bymonline.org
Click here for more options
To buy books written by Dr. Lilian Stanley, kindly reach to us in the follwing address
Blessing Literature Centre
21/11 West Coovam River Road,
Chintadripet,
Chennai 600 002, India.
+91-44-28450411, Mob:8806270699
blc@bymonline.org
