From Jon Courson’s website (I cut and paste as there is not permanent link.)
April 10
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Genesis 32:26
Why did God wrestle Jacob? Why does He want to wrestle with you and me? For the same reason I used to wrestle with my sons. It’s something called intimacy. God likes to wrestle things through with me and you because He enjoys us. It’s as if He says to us, “Let’s wrestle this thing through hour after hour, day after day, even month after month because not only will you find that I’ll come through eventually, but in the process, we will develop a wonderful intimacy.”
That’s why the original Greek text makes it clear that we are to “keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking” (see Matthew 7:7), for that is how intimacy is developed; that is how prayer is answered.
Wrestling provides unique opportunities for discovery. As you measure your strength against that of your opponent, as you assume various positions and are held in numerous holds, you discover things about yourself and your opponent you couldn’t have known otherwise. So too, God invites us to wrestle with Him in order that we might discover things about Him and ourselves we could learn in no other way. As you wrestle in prayer, you might find that what God gives to you and does for you is entirely different than what you had expected. Jacob asked to be blessed, instead he was broken, but the answer was better, because our Father knows best.
Keep on wrestling, gang. You’ll have intimacy with the Lord. You’ll make discoveries about the Lord. And you’ll be changed radically by the Lord in the very process of praying.
This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Pillar By Day" by Pastor Jon. "A Pillar By Day" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the Old Testament books of Genesis through Deuteronomy. If you would like your own copy of "A Pillar By Day" you may click here to go to the SearchLight Store
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