Wrestle With God and Prevail

<Genesis 32> 6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.”

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,’ 

10 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. 

11 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. 12 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.’”

Jacob’s blessed prayer <v. 9-12>.

1) In his planning, Jacob did not forget to pray.

2) Held onto God’s promises in prayers.

3) Key recipe for success in prayer: Humility.

4) Recounted God’s past blessings and gave thanks.

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 

32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

The wrestle with God <v. 24-32>.

1) Being driven to wrestle.

• Even if have a “struggling faith”, don’t give up wrestling.

2) How can mere man struggle with God and prevail?

• God allows him to.
• Because of His own promise.
• Because of the Father-child relationship with believers.

3) Both a victory and a defeat.

• <Hos 12:4>:
  • “struggled with the angel and overcame him”
  • “wept and begged for favor”
• Here, God came as “opponent” rather than “friend”.
• A battle of wills: Human’s and God’s.
• Jacob’s limp: Not self-sufficient, but need to depend on God.

4) Have we wrestled with God too?

• Wrestle to be convinced that God is my blessing.
• Wrestle not for God to yield to us, but us to submit to Him.

 Change of name: Jacob >>> Israel

• Turning point in Jacob’s life.
• New identity, character and destiny.

Reflection

1. Share your experiences of wrestling with God. They were over what issues? How had those struggles shaped you, blessed you, or impacted your relationship with God? Are you still in an on-going process of wrestling with God and how can the group pray for you?
2. Is there any “limp” or “thorn” in your life that has been given to humble you or make you more dependent on God? How have you seen God’s sufficient grace and blessing despite that “limp”/“thorn”.