Thursday, July 10, 2008

Life Works 033 - Wrestling in Prayer

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

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Wrestling in Prayer

© Christopher Shennan 2008

So Jacob was alone, and a man came and wrestled with him until the sun came up. When the man saw he could not defeat Jacob, he struck Jacob's hip and put it out of joint. Then he said to Jacob, "Let me go. The sun is coming up."
But Jacob said, "I will let you go if you will bless me.
The man said to him, "What is your name?"
And he answered, "Jacob."
Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with people, and you have won."(Genesis 32:24-28 - NCV)

It is clear that though we are told a "man" wrestled with Jacob, the One who wrestle with Jacob was more than a man. For one thing, the power and blessing He bestowed on Jacob was more than any man could do. For another, we are told specifically Jacob had "wrestled with God." What an awesome thing! The infinite God stooped to wrestle with a finite man --- and lost the fight. Naturally, Jacob did not win because he was stronger than God, but because his hunger for God's blessing on his life pleased God.
One thing that must be understood is that Jacob did not initiate the wrestling. Nor, in the end, was Jacob wrestling at all. He was merely hanging on for dear life.
Jacob had no desire for a wrestling match at this particular time in his life. He had a confrontation with Laban behind him, and he was in fear and trembling at the prospect of meeting his brother Esau. We are simply told that when Jacob was left alone, a "man" wrestled with him.

It was as much a surprise to Jacob as it would be to a man attacked while strolling down a country lane. It was God's appointment, not Jacob's. However, there was one thing Jacob had in his favour: He had always demonstrated a singular desire for spiritual things, though he often went about it in the wrong way. Learn from this that God will, sooner or later, meet with a man or woman who hungers and thirsts after Him.
"Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6- KJV)

1. Wrestling with God in Prayer Requires Solitude.
What was it, then, that brought Jacob to this wrestling match that so radically changed his life? (Sometime, make a study of how different Jacob was before and after this experience).
Apart from God's sovereign intervention in his life, there was something else that brought. Jacob to the point of Crisis: Jacob was left alone.
There are lots of people who cannot stand to be alone. They surround themselves continually with people. And even when they are forced into solitude, they surround themselves with distractions, like books and television. Not that it is wrong to have some distractions. It is just that if you never have time when you are really alone, you never have an opportunity to grapple with the really important things in your life that need change.
Perhaps that is why some avoid real solitude at any cost. They sense if they ever become truly alone, they will be unable to escape the voice of conscience. They will have to face up to the kind of people they have become, and remove the mask they have worn to hide from the world -- and from themselves. Unaware of God's love for them, they may even be subconsciously afraid to place themselves in a position where they can hear the Voice of God in their souls.
Even as Christians there may be some areas in our lives we don't really want to face. Not as yet anyway. So we engage in all kinds of Christian activity -- all of it good -- not realizing we may be avoiding a meeting with God that would transform us completely.

Remember, we are not talking here about loneliness. Loneliness can be a great trial, and we should be very sensitive to the needs of those who must live alone, or for some other reason suffer the ravages of loneliness. I don't believe God ever wants us to be lonely; cut off psychologically and physically from all human companionship for extended periods of time. But I do believe He wants us to experience regular periods of alone-ness; times when we are free from the distractions of constant human company and perpetual activity. He wants us to take opportunity to hear His Voice, and to confront the crisis areas of our lives.
It was when he was alone that the angel wrestled with Jacob.
Perhaps that is when you are most likely to have a real wrestling in prayer. When you allow yourself to be really alone, and stop evading the still, small Voice of God as he uncovers the weak places in your Christian armour.
If you carefully examine the life of Jesus, you will find he took definite steps to be alone in between all the hustle and bustle of his public ministry:
". . . he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities." (Matthew 14:13 - KJV)
Jesus attempted to escape the crowds by going into the desert, but the people followed him. So He ministered to them with compassion, performed the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, and made another attempt to be alone:
"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone." (Matthew 14:22-23 - KJV)
There is no doubt Jesus wrestled in prayer on that mountain, though only in the garden of Gethsemane are we given a glimpse of its intensity, where he sweat great drops of blood. But whatever else wrestling in prayer requires, it seems to require solitude.

2. Wrestling with God in Prayer Requires a Passionate Interest in the Subject of Your Prayer.
(i) Jacob was afraid to face his brother Esau. He had just narrowly escaped retribution from his uncle Laban, and Jacob had always displayed an intense desire for the blessing of God. All in all, Jacob was a prime candidate for a heavenly wrestling match that brought down special blessing upon his life. If he had not truly cared for God's blessing, he could never have prayed, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." God will not answer a prayer you have little interest in having answered.
(ii) The one passion of Jesus' life was His desire for His Father's will. While He would have liked to put aside the cup of suffering, his commitment to the Father's will was greater. Such intense wrestling in the garden would not have taken place had Jesus not cared passionately for the Fathers Plan to redeem lost sinners.
(iii) You will only wrestle in prayer if spiritual things really matter to you. If you don't really care, you could never really bear the intensity of a wrestling match with God. Indeed, it is doubtful you will ever get the chance. You will probably be relegated to that vast company of lukewarm Christians who sit in pews, but never spread the news of God's own Son.

I WILL NOT LET YOU GO!
(c. 16th September 1995 By Christopher Shennan)

I will not let You go, my Lord,
Unless You bless me well;
Unless you bring relief, my Lord,
To this child of death and hell.

I have no strength to plead, my Lord,
Beyond a feeble cry;
Beyond a whispered call for help;
Beyond a stifled sigh.

Though my heart seems faint, my Lord,
Though my strength seems small,
I cannot seem to lose my grip
Until you grant me all.

It seems that life and death, my Lord;
It seems that life and limb
Depend on how I cling, my Lord,
To the Truth -- that it not dim.

I seem to feel Your answer, Lord,
Is not too far away,
Is not too far from falling, Lord,
On my spirit as I pray.

I did not let you go, my Lord,
I did not let You by,
Until Your Mercy came to me
With Your Blessing, from on high.

3. Wrestling with God in Prayer Will Generally Leave Its Mark on You.
"And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
"Therefore the children of Israel eat not [of] the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank." (Genesis 32:31-32)

Wrestling with God resulted in Jacob limping on his way. Wrestling in prayer caused blood to ooze from Jesus' brow, and led Him finally to the Cross. Those not physically marked, are nevertheless marked in other ways. After Peter wept bitterly over his denial of the Lord, he was a much humbler man than he was before.
The real issue the LORD wanted to confront in Jacob's life was the matter of self-reliance. Jacob even tried to gain spiritual goals by guile and deception. Did the Lord Jesus perhaps have Jacob in mind when he said of Nathanael, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile"? It would seem so, since he said to Nathanael, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." This is an obvious allusion to Jacob who saw a vision of ascending and descending angels. There is a stunning contrast between Jacob's deceptive way of life and the clear assessment Jesus gave of Nathanael, "…an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Jacob conducted his walk with God according to his own rules: if things weren't working out to his liking he would manipulate circumstances to serve his own ends. God wanted that to end. He wanted Jacob to depend entirely upon Him. That is why Jacob limped away from that wrestling match. The limp was to remind him of his own weakness, so he would remember to depend wholly on God.
God’s goal with each of us is the same as it was with Jacob. If we truly learn how to wrestle in prayer we will most likely come away from it with some kind of limp, physical, spiritual, or emotional. God’s purpose is not to cripple us, but to become our only life support.

LEAVE YOUR MARK ON ME!
(c. 26th November 1999 By Christopher Shennan)

Oh, Leave Your Mark on me, dear Lord;
Just leave Your Mark on me.
I care not what dread form it takes,
Or what its nature be,
So long as, when the dawn shines through,
You’ve left Your Mark on me.

I want to wholly lean on You;
I want my spirit free.
I want the stamp of Your approval
Out where all can see;
So wrestle long into the night,
And leave Your Mark on me.

Don’t leave me to myself, dear Lord,
Unmarked by Destiny,
Or by Your wondrous, perfect Plan
That You would work in me.
So, in Your gracious mercy, Lord,
Please leave Your mark on me.

FOR HOME STUDY
1. Are there other examples in Scripture where men of God triumphed in prayer when they were alone?
2. What were the results of Jacob's wrestling match, and what kind of mark do you expect will be left on you, if you wrestle in prayer?
3. Is there some matter in your own life you have been unwilling to face; something that needs desperately to be confronted? Are you willing for God to have it out with you?
4. Do you have a problem of self-reliance. Do you even try to gain spiritual goals in your own way?

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Exodus 32:31,32; 2 Corinthians 1:8,9; 1 Kings 19:1-18
Assignment:
Part 1
(i) Read the entire lesson again
(ii) Answer the Questions under "For Home Study."
(iii) Look up all references under "For Further Study."
Part 2
Read the lesson again from start to finish and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. Who initiated the wrestling match between the LORD and Jacob? Why do you think Jacob was chosen for this singular honour?
2. What will happen, sooner or later, to the man or woman who hungers and thirsts after God? Do you think you may be a candidate for this kind of experience?
3. How important is solitude in your personal relationship with God? Can you think of any other Bible characters having unusual experiences with God in solitude?
4. Why do you think some people cannot bear to be really alone?
5. Explain the difference between alone-ness and loneliness.
6. Why do you think Jesus took steps to be alone? Why would He want to get away from the crowds that swarmed over Him in His public ministry?
7. How much do you think Jacob's fear of his brother Esau contributed to the desperation he displayed in this singular experience? Do you think God can use desperate circumstances in your life, to make you more earnest in prayer so he can ultimately bless you? Explain.
8. From the point of view of prayer, explain why it is important to take spiritual matters seriously.
9. What contrast do you see between Jacob in the Old Testament, and Nathanael in the New Testament? Who do you think you are most like, Jacob, or Nathanael?
10. What was the main issue God wanted to confront in Jacob's life? What main issue do you think God wants to confront in your life?
11. What "mark" would you want God to leave on you, should He grant you the privilege of wrestling in prayer?
Part 3
Write a short essay (one or two paragraphs) outlining what this study has meant to you, and how you mean to implement its lessons in your life. Writing it down in this way will help imprint it more surely on your heart.

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