Fighting With Prayer
25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." 27 So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28 Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." (Genesis 32:25-28)
Jacob, with the help of his mother, had cheated his brother, Esau, out of their father's inheritance and blessing. In turn, Jacob's father-in-law, Laban, attempted to cheat Jacob out of marrying his youngest daughter. Eventually, after Jacob married both of Laban's daughters, Jacob resolved to return home even if it meant facing his brother. During that journey, Jacob sent his family ahead of him to spend the last night alone, but he wound up wrestling with the angel of the Lord. The angel refused to be identified, but did bless Jacob and give him a new name - after also giving Jacob a permanent limp from striking his hip.
When Jesus was teaching his disciples about persevering in prayer, he told them the story of a widow and an unjust judge. The widow was so persistent that the judge granted her request to make her go away - not just because it was the right thing to do. Jesus went on to explain how much more likely God is
to grant a righteous request.
It's not that the begging and pleading of the widow, or the wrestling of Jacob, convinced an unwilling God to bless them. God is always willing to bless according to God's will. Our cries to God "day and night" express a faith that God can and will do what is right in our situation. And sometimes, like Jacob, we may not know what or whom we are wrestling with in prayer, yet God may be transforming us, renaming us, and giving us a permanent reminder that we've encountered the Almighty. Our persistence and our striving in prayer is not about getting exactly what we're asking for, it's about getting closer to the God who already knows what we need and who longs to bring us into alignment with a purpose far greater than we can imagine.
4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:4-8)
