Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Genesis 32:26
God is all powerful and always looking out to bless us but the unpopular fact is that great things cannot happen in the life of a Christian if he or she continues to deny God the permission to act by failing to pray.
Consider the instructions God gave his children in Is 45:11: “Thus says the LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.”
If God is saying to ask and to command Him to make things happen then nothing could be more appealing in life than to pray without ceasing and argue our case with God until we secure our heart desires.
When we stop or are tired of petitioning God on the issues concerning our lives God becomes curtailed in his actions. God further instructs in Is 18:1 to “ come and let us reason together”, a divine invitation to plead our case in prayer.
Prayer therefore is an opportunity to activate God’s power in human affairs. Jacob was destined for greatness from birth but he could not become the Israel he was destined to be without an encounter with the divine.
Jacob wrestled and petitioned an angel in prayer and would not let him go until he blessed him and that blessing reached far into generations. (Gen.32:26)
We may want to ask ourselves how Jacob got so motivated to wrestle an angel till the dawning of day? We may also want to get inspiration from his rare encounter.
1. Jacob recognized the hour and ceased the opportunity.
2. He knew that for him to prevail over the battle of his life he would have to persist in importunate prayer
3. He knew that greatness was not given on a platter of gold but must be fought for and won
4. He knew that reward of prayer was like the huge profit that accrues to a shrewd merchant
5. The pattern of his prayer life in his encounter align with the caveat given by Jesus to have a victorious life ‘that men always ought to pray and not lose heart’.Luke 18:1
Learning from Jacob’s experience therefore we should be ready to learn the art of prevailing prayer with God by spending more time with God than we spend with the world. The more time we spend with God the more power we have to successfully overcome lives issues.
We should not be like the many who give their strength to the world and come back to God fatigued. Such an attitude cannot prevail in prayer nor change the narrative of a life from defeat to victory!
