21 Days of Prayer: Day 6 - Paul Looney
“Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’”
Genesis 32:26 (NIV)
One of the great prayers recorded in Scripture was prayed by Jacob, a man whose faith was very weak. It’s similar to a father’s prayer for his demonized child when he cried out to Jesus in honest admission, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24 (NKJV) Jacob’s prayer really begins in verse 9. “Then Jacob prayed, ‘O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, LORD, You who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’” Genesis 32:9-12 (NIV)
Jacob was praying in desperation, yet every word of his prayer shows a profound knowledge of God’s ways, His character, and His promises. Why was he so afraid? Twenty years before, Jacob had fled from his brother, Esau, after cheating him out of his blessing and his birthright. Esau vowed to kill him then, and the threat was just a real to Jacob now as he returned home.
When he ran away, God graciously came to Jacob in a dream and promised to bless him. Now he finds himself all alone camped out by the Jabbok River. He had sent his family and all his possession across the river so he could be alone with God. Pastor and author, Warren Wiersbe, writes, “During that ‘dark night of the soul,’ Jacob discovered that he'd spent his life fighting God and resisting His will, and that the only way to victory was through surrender. As A.W. Tozer said, 'The Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered him." God conquered Jacob by weakening him.”
In Genesis 32:24-26 (NLT) the Bible says, “(Jacob was left) all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’”
Jacob wanted the blessing of God in his life. He knew that blessing was more than the material possessions God had already given him. He desperately wanted to become a changed man. He knew what he was and who he was. He knew that only God could make him a new man with the character to match the calling He had given him in life, so he continued this wrestling match all night just to be blessed. That was the blessing Jacob longed for, and he was persistent in prayer until he received it.
What about you? Do you long for the blessing of God in your life? Are you desperate for Him to change you from the inside out so that your life reflects the character of the Lord Jesus? Will you be persistent in prayer until He blesses you? Strong character develops as you struggle in honest admission of who you are before God and let him transform you into who He made you to be. For that to happen you must come to your own Jabbok, the place of total surrender, just as Jacob did.
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.