Perhaps you are someone who enjoys the physicality and storytelling ability of professional wrestling. Maybe you watched the classics like The Crusher, Baron von Raschke, or George the Animal Steele. Or maybe you enjoyed the superstars of WWF like Hulk Hogan, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
Pro wrestlers have great character names like Sting, The Rock, The Undertaker, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. They are creative characters, perfect for television.
In this week’s Old Testament lesson, Jacob wrestled with God all evening. In the beginning of his life, Jacob was quite the character. His pro wrestling name would have been The Heel-Grabber. But after his wrestling match with God was over, the Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel because he “fought with God and won.”
Moses records the event for us. “Jacob was left alone, and he wrestled with a man there until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he touched the socket of his thigh, and the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated as he wrestled. The man said, ‘Let me go. It’s daybreak.’ Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ Then he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men, and you have won’” (Genesis 32:24-28).
God wants us to wrestle with him – to wrestle with him in prayer. God wants you to be his professional wrestlers – wrestling like Jacob at Jabbok.
Our Hymn of the Day speaks about wrestling with God in prayer. Verse one: When in the hour of utmost need we know not where to look for aid, when days and nights of anxious thought no help or counsel yet have brought.
We often find ourselves in an hour of utmost need. We don’t know where to turn. Our days and nights are filled with anxious thoughts. We can’t find aid or help, comfort or counsel anywhere else. We could approach God in prayer. But most of us struggle with prayer.
We forget to pray. And when we remember, we hurry through our woefully short prayers with hollow words. We give God a shopping list of things we want him to do for us, instead of praying for his name to be hallowed, his kingdom to come, and his will to be done.
Instead, God wants us to struggle in prayer. Verse two: Then is our comfort this alone that we may meet before your throne; to you, O faithful God, we cry for rescue in our misery.
We learn the power of prayer from God, his prophets, apostles, and saints. Jesus is the Son of God. Yet, he prayed in the desert, in Gethsemane, and on the cross. We seek God’s face like Moses, are bold like Abraham, and wrestle with God like Jacob. We are persistent like the widow before the judge in Jesus’ parable in this Sunday’s Gospel lesson. We can approach God with confidence. We find comfort in speaking to our heavenly Father. We trust that God listens to our cries for rescue and relief.
Verse three: For you have promised, Lord, to heed your children’s cries in time of need through him whose name alone is great, our Savior and our advocate.
Our passionate prayers move the heart of God. James reminds us, “The prayer of a righteous person is able to do much because it is effective” (James 5:16). Join your heart-felt prayers to those of other saints. Receive comfort in the knowledge that Jesus Christ is your High Priest in heaven, perfecting your prayers, serving as your Advocate before the throne of the Almighty God.
Verse four: And so we come, O God, today and all our woes before you lay; be with us in our anguish still, free us at last from ev’ry ill.
Be bold in prayer. Know what you need and ask God for it. Talk to him about it. Speak to your Father. Paul encourages, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Don’t give up. Be persistent. Be courageous. God wants to bless you through Christ. Wrestle with God in prayer. Learn the lesson Jacob finally learned - quit your own cunning and make use of God’s almighty power. Cling to God’s promises. Win God’s blessing.
Verse five: So that with all our hearts we may to you our glad thanksgiving pay, then walk obedient to your Word and now and ever praise you, Lord.
Satan trembles when God’s saints pray. Paul reminds us, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). When God’s faithful saints pray, miracle children are born, raging waters are parted, angels attack, lives are spared, and heaven is opened. When God’s people approach his throne in prayer, tumors shrink, blindness turns to sight, strength is received, jobs are reclaimed, evil is thwarted, death is overcome, and God’s kingdom comes.
So, wrestle with God in prayer. Pray, praise, and give thanks.