07/16/2021
Do we wrestle with God when we are alone in our prayer closets? Do we realize that we are coming face to face spiritually with Him in that place, or do our prayers seem to be purely physical… a mental exercise of our body and mind? We, like Jacob, can wrestle with what we see and touch, only to realize when it is too late, and the sun has risen, that our match was with God Himself, and not with man… our mental perception of God. At that moment we humble ourselves, and He blesses us with a new name, and we honor that place by calling it “God strives”.
“Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.””
Genesis 32:29-30 ESV
So often we retreat into our place of prayer, and call out to God as if we can demand Him to meet with us there on our own terms. We begin to wrestle with Him through our faith, trying to make it conform to our image of what we desire a relationship with God to be. Then, in that fleeting moment when the sun begins to rise and a new day is dawning, He wounds us, exerts His will over us, and we realize that we haven’t been wrestling with our faith at all, but against God Himself. He has been there all along, and another day has passed in which our self-centeredness has blinded us, and we have known Him not. In truth, we only think we are wrestling with God when in fact He is actually wrestling with us, because we are His heart’s desire, and the only reason He tolerates our efforts. His love for us is the sole purpose He bothers to wrestle at all.
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
We struggle to reason our way to God, but in truth our mental exercises, and reasoned spiritual approaches are not the way we begin. God commands us to love Him with all our heart. This is always spoken first, and only once our heart has seen Him, embraced Him, and has led us to pray appropriately, only then does He mention our mind and soul.
In the Old Testament:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV
In the words of Jesus:
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:37-38 ESV
When we enter our places of prayer we do we do so with all our heart? Do we approach Him with a humble aura of love surrounding us, not religious pomp or circumstance, and not like we are entering a business meeting in which we are wanting to negotiate a good outcome for ourselves, or wrestle for dominance as we make our demands? Are we ready to humbly voice to God the things that are in our heart, and on our mind, then to receive His answer in the absolute faith that every answer is good? Are we ready to pray as we should because He has given us a new heart through our transformation in Christ?
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV
Prayer, it is our time of intimate conversation with the creator of Heaven and earth. We should enter into it with love, humility, contrition, submission, awe, tenderness, trust, soul searching as we look to see if we are approaching Him as Christ taught us to, and reflection… are we are reflecting the image of God? Prayer is not a competition, or a wrestling match in which we win out over God, and we need to realize this before another day passes, and is wasted on our own pride, hubris, and selves. Another day in which our hip is put out of joint before we bring ourselves to acknowledge who we are as compared to who God is. A day that defeats fear, and paints all things in heaven snd earth with agape love… the love of God for man, and man for God.
Are we ready to stop wrestling with our faith, and submit to it?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent your Son Jesus to live, suffer, die, and be raised again so that we would be saved, and redeemed from sin. Thank you for loving us enough that you would even consider wrestling with us for our souls. We thank you for touching us in our prayer closets, and circumcising our hearts such that we feel your hand gently, and lovingly, brushing against our hearts. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves us enough to discipline us, to dislocate our joints, that we can thus be led into a proper relationship with you. Praised be your name for each of those times when you cared enough to wrestle with us for our souls, and chose not to destroy us, or allow us to doom ourselves. Wash us today in the blood of your Son Jesus, and lead us as you led Him into our prayer closet… pure, humble, and obedient to your will. Open our eyes that we will see you, remove our calluses so that we can feel you, and give us fresh lungs so that we can smell fully the incense of Heaven. Great is your mercy and forgiveness, and amazing is your grace as you judge us through loving eyes. Seat us at your table Father, and call us your children who sought you with all their hearts, and in in whom you are well pleased.
Rich Forbes