Patriotic Pasta...

...only because it is being written on the 4th of July.

Last Sunday we took a look at Jacob's prayer in Genesis 32. As we have established, Jacob was a sneaky, conniving kind of guy for the first part of his life, but at Genesis 32 we have hit the part of the scripture where there is a change in Jacob, and the Jacob we see after chapter 32 is not the same Jacob we have seen to this point.

In chapter 32 Jacob faces a "terrifying" situation in his life and we have his prayer to God recorded. There are some things that are worth imitating from this prayer- we discussed them on Sunday and I will mention them briefly here:

1. Jacob's Prayer Was To The Point

Jacob's request was that God would save him from his brother Esau. Jacob did not beat around the bush- he asked directly for what he desired. We can do the same. We do not need to couch our request in flowery words or a certain "prayer speech". Just lay it out on the table. God knows anyway. It was Charles Spurgeon who said that we should come before God with "Real Business".

2. Jacob Expressed a Real Sense of Humility

Jacob knew he was undeserving of the blessing of God- both the blessings he had already received and the ones he was asking for- and he said so to God. We truly have to come to that same place in our heart if we hope for our prayer to have any credibility before God. If there is any hint of "you owe me..." in our prayer, then we lose the power of our prayer.

3. Jacob's Prayer was Argumentative

Not in the sense we think. Not in the sense of our kids arguing with each other or a kid arguing with a parent. Not in the negative sense that the word indicates. Rather, Jacob's prayer made a case for his request. The case is not based on our own merit, (see #2 above), but it is based on the character of God and what we know of Him. Jacob made a case by invoking these arguements:

- Covenant (Gen 32:9)
Jacob "reminded" God that He had made a covenant with Abraham and Isaac. God did not really need reminding, but Jacob brought it up to point out that the covenant could not be broken. He called upon God's faithfulness in this case.

-Obedience (Gen 32:9)
Jacob knew he was doing what God had instructed. He was returning to his "homeland" as God had instructed. Since he was acting within the bounds of obedience, that could be claimed as a part of his case.

-Mercy (Gen 32:10)
God had shown Jacob mercy in the past. Jacob appealed to God's mercy and ask that He continue to show his mercy in this coming "crisis"

-Promise (Gen 32:12)
Closely related to covenant (see #1 above) One thing God cannot do is break a promise. When we find promises in scripture, we can claim them before God

I should mention that this is not a comprehensive guide to "How to Pray". There are many aspects of prayer- intercession, adoration, thanksgiving, supplication- that we have not even touched here. But, in terms of bringing our requests before God, I think that we find some practices that are worthy of our imitation.

The other item that we did not get to on Sunday, (too much pasta), is what happened right after the prayer. First we need to know that in chapter 33, Jacob's prayer is answered. Esau is not angry with Jacob and the brothers are reunited... and it feels so good. (Couldn't resist) But before that, Jacob has to wrestle.

The night before he met Esau, Jacob has an encounter with an angel. They wrestle all night. When the angel sees that he cannot overpower Jacob, he touches Jacob's hip, wrenching it, and causing Jacob to limp for the rest of his life. (Gen 32:22-32)

I find the whole encounter fascinating and confusing. I have not done much in depth study on this one, and we could probably make a week or two out of this if we wanted to, but that is not my plan for right now.

I think, (and I stress I THINK- don't really have a ton of research backing this), that there are a few things that come from this. Jacob's prayer was answered, but not without struggle. Maybe it is that way with us as well. God is willing to answer our prayers, but it may not come the way we think- it may come after much struggle. There is a lot I do not know about God, but I do know this- He knows better what I need and how I need it than I do. He has proven that over and over and over. And if the things He has for us come after struggle, then so be it. And, sometimes it is struggle that marks you for life. Jacob limped for the rest of his life after this encounter. All of us have struggles that mark us for life. But when we hold on through the struggle and do not let go, God blesses us. That is exactly what happened with Jacob. He was blessed because he was not overcome by the struggle.

Sara Groves is one of the best Christian song writers and performers out there. On one of her early albums, she has a song entitled "Painting Pictures of Egypt". The song is up there in my top ten of songs with astounding lyrics. In the song, there is a part where she says:

If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

Oh my.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon