I read a passage about a dogged determined man. This passage has intrigued me for years. To this day I can't say I fully understand it. I understand the end of the story. And I am challenged by this man's determination.
We all may start out determined at some task. Then the hard work sets in. The newness of the task fades. The excitement wanes. The challenges mount. We get weary. Maybe even impatient too. All of that combined can make a person lose heart. To lose resolve to stay the course. I have certainly experienced that and I bet many of you have also.
Let's read the passage.
Genesis 32:22-32 (ESV)
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.
Here is the dogged determination of Jacob. "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The confusion part of this passage for me has always been did God come down and manifest Himself as a man to wrestle with Jacob? Was it an angel? The Bible just says a man came. In the end of this story Jacob believes he wrestled with God.
The point is Jacob strove with his opponent all night. Jacob refused to let go without a blessing. It got me to thinking about my prayer life. I asked myself, "Have I ever been that dogged determined in prayer about anything that I refused to quit praying without God's blessing?"
Is the farmer dogged determined when he prays for rain? Is the parent dogged determined when praying for their children? Is the pastor dogged determined praying for the flock? Is the intercessor dogged determined praying for revival and spiritual awakening?
Closer to home am I dogged determined when praying for multiple things? Do I have that stick to it attitude, refusal to be denied, tenaciously praying without losing heart until the answer comes? I can think of several items that will take nothing less for their resolution.
In our instant fast paced society we like results immediately. We want to reap the dividends quickly for our investment. Prayer does not always work that way because does not always work that way. He tests us. He tries our faith. He makes us wait. He looks at our determination. All the determination in the world directed wrongly in prayer will not produce the sought after result if it's not the will of God. When it is the will of God He still may test our resolve to get the blessing. Dogged determination can go along way to securing what we are trusting God to do.
The next time you fervently pray for someone or something stop and ask yourself if you are like Jacob. Are you so determined you refuse to let go until God blesses. Even if it takes an hour, a week, a month, a year or decades. May God teach us to pray like that for the glory of His name and the expansion of His kingdom.
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