BLESS ME: The Prayer of Jacob (Genesis 32:26)

study from "The 21 Most Effective Prayers of the Bible" by Dave Earley

As they say, Jacob was “in a fix.”   Years before he had take the birthright blessing meant for his older brother Esau, and Esau had not forgotten.  Keep in mind that Esau was a burly, roughhewn, angry man.  Not the sort you would want to meet in a dark alley.

Now Esau was bearing down on Jacob with an army of four hundred men.  The best plan Jacob could devise was to use Middle Eastern strategy and send Esau a series of carefully selected gifts, even though he had little hope that this would work.

At that point Jacob did what desperate men should do.  He prayed (Gen. 32:9-12), but he didn’t sound very sincere, apparently even to himself.  Thus, he continued to try and wiggle out of sure disaster (Gen. 32:13-24), and ended up finding himself alone and even more desperate (Gen. 32:24).

A man appeared in the dark to Jacob and a battle began.  Arms were twisted, legs were seized, and necks were wrenched.  All through the night the wrestling war was waged.  When it became clear Jacob could not win, he grabbed hold of the stranger and hung on for dear life.  Then he uttered a small prayer: “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Gen. 32:26). 

BLESS ME

Jacob had taken hold of God—his opponent in the dark—and refused to let go until God had blessed him.  Asking for all the blessing he could get was typical of Jacob.  He had asked his father to give him the biggest blessing his father could give and now he was asking the same of God.

When I first read this story I was surprised at the boldness, the brashness, and yes, the greediness of Jacob.  Come on!  I was expecting God to rise up and blast him for making such a request.  Instead, God gave Jacob what he asked for.  God blessed him with a manifold blessing—one replete with transformation, revelation, direction, protection, and impact (Gen. 32:27-28).

God changed his name from Jacob, meaning “grasper,” to Israel, meaning “prince of God.”  The name change indicated a transformation of heart.  There is a positive side to Jacob’s personality, and God was obviously impressed with his prevailing perseverance.  He had held on, and hung on, until he got what he sought.  When he had a chance to get a hold of God, he refused to let go (Gen. 32:29-32).

When Jacob chose the Hebrew word Peniel, which means “the face of God,” to commemorate the site, he was clearly aware that he had been given a rare and glorious opportunity.  He had a face-to-face encounter with the living God and lived to tell about it.  At Peniel, God reveled Himself to Jacob in a life-changing way.  God touched his hip and changed the way he walked the rest of his life.  More importantly, God touched his heart and changed the way he lived the rest of his life.

READ (Gen. 33:1-11).

REMEMBER

1. God blesses the spiritually aggressive.
2. God is willing and able to bless those who ask.
3. God’s blessing is big enough to go beyond us to others.
4. Receiving God’s blessing should make us the “blessers” of others.
5. God reveals Himself to those who really want to know Him.