Wrestling in Prayer
Philippians 4:6 NLT
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Genesis 32:1-2 ESV
Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's camp!" So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
wrestled: abaq
Jabbok: yabboq
Jacob: Ya'aqob
Genesis 32:26 NLT
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."
J.I. Packer, Knowing God
That night, as Jacob stood alone by the river Jabook, God met him. There were hours of desperate, agonized conflict, spiritual and, as it seemed to Jacob, physical also. Jacob had hold of God; he wanted a blessing, an assurance of divine favor and protection in this crisis; but he could not get what he sought. Instead, he grew more conscious of his own state - utterly helpless and without God was simply that he held on to God while God weakened him and wrought in him the spirit of submission and self-distrust; that he desired God's blessing so much that he clung to God through all this painful humbling, till he came low enough for God to raise him up . . .
Genesis 32:29b NLT
Then he blessed Jacob there.
1. Identity
Genesis 32:26b-28 NIV
But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man asked, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the main said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
2. Intuition
Genesis 32:29-30 NIV
Jacob said, "Please tell me you name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
3. Intervention
Genesis 33:4 NIV
But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
