Honey From The Rock

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Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

WRESTLING WITH GOD

This entry was posted on 03-15-2010 and is filed under STUDIES IN GENESIS.

Jacob was between a rock and a hard place. Laban was pursuing him from one direction and Esau was advancing on him from another direction. He prayed to God for deliverance (Gen. 32:11) and then bedded down for the night. He couldn't sleep. You know how it is when you are sick with worry. Who can sleep? So he got up, took Rachel and Leah and their 11 sons and crossed over the Jabbok ford, then returned to camp. That's when the wrestling began. God and Jacob wrestled all night long. It is a strange story but true. Truth is often stranger than fiction. Toward the break of day we find this amazing passage. "And He [God] said, 'Let Me go, for the day breaks.' But he [Jacob] said, 'I will not let You go unless You bless me!'" (Gen. 32:26 NKJV).

How puny my prayers seem in comparison. How easily I give up in prayer, long before the day breaks. How tiny and embarrassing are my requests. The apostle Paul described our wrestling in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:12). Give Jacob credit. He wrestled with God until he got what he requested, even though he limped from that day forward because of the event (see. 25). God leaves His mark on us when we pray fervently and unceasingly. God was so impressed with Jacob's intensity and aggressiveness that He gave him a new name. "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggle with God and with men, and have prevailed" (v. 28). Just think. Israel today might be known as Jacob! The Israelites might have been called the Jacobites. The name "Israel" appears more than 2,500 times in Scripture. All because a man would not take no for an answer ~ from Almighty God Himself!

Prayer: Great God of Israel, forgive us when we fail to go to the mat with You in prayer. We repent of our puny prayers. Grant us the holy boldness of Your servant Jacob/Israel. Through Christ we pray.