Have you ever been desperate in prayer? So desperate you would not stop praying until you got your answer? Jacob in the Bible was desperate. He had stolen his brother Esau’s life by stealing his inheritance. Jacob had run away from his brother while his brother was raging like a lion. Years later, as a wealthy man, Jacob was returning to the lion’s lair. He was coming back home. What would Esau do to him? It ate him up. He needed assurance.

That night the Lord himself wrestled with Jacob. The Lord said, “‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’” (Genesis 32:26). And the Lord blessed him. Why? Because Jacob was a better wrestler? No, because God had a purpose for the wrestling. Like Jacob, God uses the “wrestling” in our lives to strengthen our faith, teach us persistence in prayer, and simply because he loves to bless his children. Consider the grace of this thought today: God allows himself to be overcome when we wrestle him in our prayers. 

When you feel as though you are on the bottom of the wrestling pile with God, remember that God loves it when you hold him to his promises. And what happens? You will always win. He will always call you his child. He will always forgive your sins. And he will show you that the wrestling was meant to bring you closer. Say, “No, Lord, I won’t let go until you bless me.”