Bible Lesson: Answered Prayer:
Jacob Wrestles All Night With The Lord.
Subject Of Prayer: Jacob
Determined To Be Blessed.
Bible Text:
Genesis 32:24-30 KJV
24 And Jacob was left alone; and
there wrestled A Man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when He saw that He prevailed
not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with Him.
26 And He said, Let me go, for the
day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless
me.
27 And He said unto him, What is thy
name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And He said, Thy name shall be
called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power
with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked Him, and said,
Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And He said, Wherefore is it that
thou dost ask after My name? And He blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the
place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is
preserved.
Jacob was off to
meet his brother Esau, and for all he knew, he was out to kill him.
Jacob had placed flocks and herds before him as gifts to appease his
brother. Than that night Jacob separated his wives and servants from
him, across the Jabbok river, so that he was left alone.
That night, A Man,
came to him, A Man so special that Jacob could not let him go. He was
indeed special, He was The Lord (A Theophany.) And Jacob wrestled
with Him, asking that the Man would bless him, because Jacob needed a
special blessing!
Hosea 12:4,5 NLT
4 Yes, he wrestled with The Angel
(The Angel Of The Lord) and won. He wept and pleaded for a
blessing from Him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and
God spoke to him—
5 The Lord God Of Heaven’s Armies,
The Lord is His name!
Judges
13:17,18 KJV (Manoah and
his wife, mother and father of Samson.)
17 And Manoah said unto The Angel Of
The Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may
do thee honor?
18 And The Angel Of The Lord said
unto him, Why askest thou thus after My name, seeing it is secret?
There are times
when short prayers are what are called for.
Ecclesiastes 5:2
KJV
Do not be quick with your mouth, do
not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in
heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
Prayer over food,
prayer for necessities.
Matthew 6:32 KJV
"... for your Heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But there are times
for persistence in prayer! Special needs, danger, loved ones, and
life itself, demand that no short prayer, can possibly be the answer!
Many were the
nights, our Savior spent in tears and crying before The Father, for
the needs of others.
Luke 6:12 KJV
And it came to
pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and
continued all night in prayer to God.
Hebrews 5:7 KJV
Who in the days of His flesh, when
He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and
tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in
that He feared;
Men And Women
Of Persistent Prayer:
Abraham:
Genesis 18:32
KJV
And he said, Oh let not The Lord be
angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be
found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
Jacob:
Genesis 32:26
KJV
And He said,
Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go,
except thou bless me.
Moses:
Deuteronomy 9:18
KJV
And I fell down
before The Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did
neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye
sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of The Lord, to provoke Him to
anger.
Samuel:
I Samuel 15:11
KJV
It repenteth me
that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from
following Me, and hath not performed My commandments. And it grieved
Samuel; and he cried unto The Lord all night.
The
Syrophenician Woman:
Matthew 15:27
KJV
And she said,
Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their
masters' table.
Jesus:
Luke 22:44 KJV
And being in an
agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground.
The Nobleman
From Capernaum:
John 4:49 KJV
The nobleman
saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.
The Early
Church:
Acts 12:5 KJV
Peter therefore
was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him.
Elijah:
James 5:17 KJV
Elias was a man
subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it
might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three
years and six months.
Intercession:
Christ:
Isaiah 53:12 KJV
Therefore will
I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil
with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and
He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Luke 22:32 KJV (Believers of weak faith.)
But I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Luke 23;34 KJV (Christ prayed for His enemies.)
Then said
Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they
parted His raiment, and cast lots.
John 14:16 KJV (Commissioning of The Holy Spirit.)
And I will pray
The Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may
abide with you for ever;
John 17:9 KJV (For the church.)
I pray for
them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
Me; for they are thine.
Romans 8:34 KJV (Our High Priest.)
Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again,
who is even at
The Right Hand
Of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Hebrews 7:25 KJV (Man's Intercessor.)
Wherefore He is
able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him,
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
I Peter 2:21 KJV
For even
hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that ye should follow His steps:
