Sunday, October 17, 2010

Do you Sweat when you Pray?

Genesis 32:22-31

The same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." 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. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Wrestling, especially the ancient - naked - type is more than sport, more than combat, it is the human activity of the greatest non-sexual physical intimacy.

Jacob's night-long-bout with God earns him, and his offspring the most blessed of all names, Israel. The "el" on any word or name is always a give away that God "El" is in the mix. Isra-el is Strives with God.


This is the example God has given us in Scripture. He wants us to grapple with Him on the most intimate basis.

If your prayer life isn't breaking a sweat, maybe it should.

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