{"id":2704,"date":"2016-02-02T11:20:11","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T16:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2704"},"modified":"2016-02-02T11:20:11","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T16:20:11","slug":"a-prayer-when-youre-wrestling-with-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/a-prayer-when-youre-wrestling-with-god.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer When You\u2019re Wrestling With God"},"content":{"rendered":"

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob\u2019s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, \u201cLet me go, for it is daybreak.\u201d But Jacob replied, \u201cI will not let you go unless you bless me.\u201d The man asked him, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d \u201cJacob,\u201d he answered. Then the man said, \u201cYour name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God.\u2026and won.\u201d (Genesis 32:24-28)<\/em><\/p>\n

Jacob had just escaped an intense scrape, meeting up with his former employer and father-in-law who positively wanted to pulverize him. Then, to make matters worse, Jacob was poised, the very next day, to meet up with Enemy #1: his brother Esau. Jacob, the ol\u2019 dirty, rotten, sneaky fellow had cheated his brother Esau out of everything he held dear.<\/p>\n

Sandwiched between these two conflicts, he was left alone for the night. Or was he?<\/p>\n

Someone approaches in the dark. Jacob has so many enemies, this must surely be one of them. Down they go in hand-to-hand combat! Through the night they wrestle, a perfect match. Deadlock. Until the One shows his unfair advantage and skillfully, supernaturally dislocates Jacob\u2019s hip. It\u2019s over. He says, \u201cYou have wrestled with God.\u201d The game changed. His name changed.<\/p>\n

Are you so uptight today that you might be fighting your Source of peace and your Source of victory? Jacob\u2019s new name was given: Israel, which means \u201cGod Fights.\u201d Perhaps it\u2019s time to cease striving and know that God is truly God\u2026 He will fight your battles for you\u2026if you let go and let him.<\/p>\n

Father,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been shadow boxing everything that moves. My fears have overwhelmed me. I\u2019ve been tormented by the demons of my past, and I\u2019ve not trusted you to forgive and redeem. I surrender! I\u2019m down for the count, bowing to your great strength and love. Forgive my striving! Forgive my manipulating! Forgive my sin and distrust! I receive your grace now. Fight for me, Lord. Have at the spiritual enemies of my soul. You have rendered me weak and crippled from the fight I have initiated. Now, in my weakness, make me strong in your strength.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Amen<\/em><\/strong>
\n P.S. And now please bless me, and change my name from \u201cScoundrel” to \u201cGod Can Do Anything!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob\u2019s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, \u201cLet me go, for it is daybreak.\u201d But Jacob…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3],"tags":[1598,1603,1600,1601,1599,1602,1365],"class_list":["post-2704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","tag-battle","tag-game-change","tag-jacob-and-esau","tag-jacob-and-laban","tag-jacob-wrestled-with-god","tag-name-change","tag-wrestling-with-god"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer When You\u2019re Wrestling With God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2016\/02\/a-prayer-when-youre-wrestling-with-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer When You\u2019re Wrestling With God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 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