Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

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Pastor's Pulse

by Paul Leggett, Pastor

Wrestling with God

July 2010

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you.  He is always wrestling in his prayers on your behalf …” – Colossians 4:12

This summer we will be focusing on the subject of prayer in our Sunday sermon series.  Prayer is one of those subjects that seems both to be overly familiar and, at the same time, strange and difficult.  We talk about prayer and we all pray to some extent but the depth of prayer is a theme that is often not explored.

In one of the earliest prayers in the Bible, Jacob, the namesake of Israel, wrestles with “a man” who is also God (Genesis 32:30).  This famous scene is an excellent introduction to the reality of Biblical prayer.  For most of us the stance of prayer is close to meditation.  It suggests quiet and serene contemplation.  When we think of praying we usually form the image of someone sitting still, eyes closed, head bowed and hands folded.  Indeed this is how most of us (including myself) pray. Depending on age or our situation in life we might kneel.  In some cases prayer involves the posture of a head raised toward heaven.  I certainly would not deny that these are appropriate stances in which one can pray.  However, they are not the only way one can pray.

I would suggest that for most of us the image of wrestling is not one we would immediately associate with prayer.  Yet many of the prayers of the Bible involve some form of wrestling, figuratively if not literally.  In the case of Jacob, he is in fact literally wrestling with God.  It is important to note several of the characteristics of prayer in this Biblical account.  Obviously the first one is wrestling.  This is not a case of Jacob being at rest or in repose.  Secondly, it is lengthy.  This wrestling goes on all night long.  Third, it is not safe.  Jacob suffers injury in the course of his wrestling. His hip is put out of joint.  Fourth, there is both the content and the intensity of his prayer.  Jacob says, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26).  Next, Jacob is changed as a result of his prayer.  He is given a new name, Israel, which means “the one who strives with God.”  More than this, the name Israel refers to the people of God.  Through Jesus Christ we are heirs of the same promises made to Israel.  Finally, Jacob receives the answer to his petition.  God blesses him.

There is more than one model of prayer in Scripture.  However I would suggest that the example of Jacob is a very important one and one that is unduly neglected.  When we are praying in earnest often we are wrestling with God.  This is the sort of prayer Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane.  As we wrestle in prayer we not only receive answers from God.  We are changed.