April 19, 2014 - Saturday

Start Time:  9:43 A.M.

End Time: 11:30 A.M.

Title: Jacob’s Prayer

Scripture: Genesis 32

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ Jacob’s condition was

1)     He was afraid and upset (Genesis 32:7-9)

2)    He needed to be rescued (Genesis 32:11)

3)    He needed God’s assurance and blessings (Genesis 32:26)

So what did Jacob do? He prayed and wrestled with God (Genesis 32)

Results of Jacob’s Prayer

1)     Prayer turns the bad to good (Genesis 33:4)

“But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him.  Then they both wept.”

            Jacob was stressed out to meet with his brother.  Jacob knew his brother; he knew that he was a hunter and that Esau was mad with him before he left.  He knew how scary Esau can be when he is mad.  Jacob stole everything from Esau so Esau was right to be mad and angry with him.  That’s why Jacob was so stressed out.  He knew he did wrong to his brother and now, he is to face him.  He didn’t know what to do and when he sent his messengers with gifts to his brother, his messengers said to him when they got back that Esau will meet him with 400 men.  Jacob was thinking of the worst.  The bible says Esau will meet with 400 men, not 400 servants, not 400 friends to celebrate and welcome him… but it says 400 men.  Jacob was imagining soldiers, warriors and skilled fighters who were ready to fight and kill every one of them.  So what did he do?  He spent the day with God in prayer.  So after wrestling with God in prayer, the image of an angry brother now shows a humble, loving and forgiving brother before him. 

Prayer has the ability to turn whatever bad situation you have right now into something good; into something better.  He did it to Jacob when he spent time in prayer to God, and I’m telling you, He can do it to you too.  So whatever problems or challenges you face today; run to the Lord, cry out to Him, and wrestle with God because He can turn your bad into good.  Just P.U.S.H. – Pray until something happens.  That’s what Jacob did and looked at what God did in return.

2)    Prayer turns the impossible possible (Hebrews 12:16)

“And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.”

This verse says that Esau was godless; it means Esau has no god.  Yet in Genesis 33, we learned Esau reconciled with Jacob.  Is a godless person capable of giving forgiveness?  Forgiveness is act of God.  The devil doesn’t know how to forgive; he just knows how to take revenge.  So when Esau, a godless man according to the New Testament, forgave Jacob…this was a miracle.  An impossible turned possible as a result of Jacob’s wrestling experience with God. 

So if you are in a situation where there is no hope; you feel like you have no other choice, I tell you today, God is the God of the impossibilities.  He can turn the impossible possible!  That’s who our God is and our prayer to Him can make this happen.  So when your problems or challenges feel like there’s no solution or no hope at all, it’s time to kneel down, look up and talk to Jesus.  He has all the answer.

3)    Prayer leads you to experience God (Genesis 33:10)

“No, please take them,” Jacob said, “If I have found favor in your sight, accept my gift from my hand.  Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, it is as if I have seen the face of God.”

Prayer is literally communion with God; through it we experience relationship with God.  It is through prayer that we get to experience God and His goodness, His blessings, His favor, His love, etc.  Jacob recognized that what Esau did (reconciling with Him) is an act of God that’s why he said that seeing Esau’s face and receiving his acceptance is like having seen the face of God.  So when we pray and we spend time with God, it is our key to experience more of Him in our lives.  God is not natural, He is supernatural.  So we will experience Supernatural in our lives because of our relationship with Him.  You’ll be amazed of His abundant provision, His amazing Grace, His abounding love, His miracles, His joy, and so much more supernaturally and you’ll see it happening right before your eyes.  Life with Christ is exciting!  You get to see things that not everyone sees.  When you get food on your table, you don’t see that it was your money used to buy it, you see God’s hand working His ways in your life to bring the food on your table.

So when you’re tired of living normal or of having the same thing done day after day after day; when you’re bored and you don’t want to live in a life of sorrows and pain and sufferings anymore; then spend your life with Jesus.  There will still be problems and issues but life with Jesus allows you to see everything in His perspective so you’ll have joy, peace, love, contentment, and everything you need in the midst of all your troubles. 

No wonder Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing” because only prayer turns our bad situation to good, turns the impossible to possible, and it is in prayer alone that we know and experience God in our lives.  So pray about everything and worry about nothing.  And when things are tough and it feels like there’s no hope, just continue to P.U.S.H.   Pray until something happens.