Cliff Loesch July 29, 2007 Wrestling with Prayer Genesis 32 and Luke 11:1-13 There's a story in Genesis 32 about Jacob. Jacob, as you probably know, had a twin brother, Esau. The two brothers had been estranged for many years-and I think most people would agree that Jacob was primarily responsible for this estrangement. But Jacob was now trying to make amends. He was headed home. Before his arrival in Esau's territory, Jacob sent a whole bunch of gifts on ahead-a peace offering if you will. But he still didn't know what to expect when the two of them met. It could be violent. As they neared the place of reunion, Jacob sent his family and servants and animals on ahead of him. He stayed by himself by the river Jabbok. During the night, Genesis 32 tells us, a man came and fought with Jacob. The two wrestled through the night. They fought and fought but neither could overcome the other. As the sun began to rise, the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." This unknown man was ready to stop the fight-but Jacob somehow sensed the supernatural dimension of this event. Indeed, traditionally, people think of this encounter as Jacob fighting with an angel (even though it doesn't say angel in Genesis 32). We may get that idea from Hosea 12:3-4 that says Jacob "contended with God; yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed." And so because of this, many view Genesis 32 as an encounter with an angel-even though Genesis does not mention an angel. The text of Genesis does, however, indicate that God was involved in this. The man told Jacob, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Also, in verse 30, Jacob says, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." Certainly he recognized the supernatural dimension in this struggle. So some say Angel; and some might say somehow that it was God striving with Jacob. But also, I read a fascinating interpretation by Jack Miles who suggested this could have been an actual wrestling match between Jacob and his brother, Esau-a kind of final struggle between the two right before the formal meeting and reconciliation. And he had some interesting arguments for this view. (see http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/Peniel.htm) But whoever this fight was against, everyone agrees that it was a supernatural struggle, or perhaps I should say, a spiritual struggle. Now may I say that this is a strange story? What is the reason for this wrestling match? How does it fit in the larger narrative of Genesis about Jacob's life and about his reconciliation with his brother? And, simply, what does it mean? First of all, let me say that when you are in the midst of a conflict-sleepless, restless nights are common. Waking up in the middle of the night with thoughts racing through your head-what if this happens, what if that happens-that's the way things go. Why is this happening to me? Or your thoughts might focus on others: Why are they acting the way they are? And scenarios of how you'll respond to the situation fill your thoughts, too. The struggle in the middle of the night might be with worry, or fear, or anger. But there are some nights where you cannot sleep-and nights so filled with turmoil that prayer seems impossible. One way of looking at this passage is that Jacob was involved in peacemaking. He was, after all, reaching out to his estranged brother. But we must remember that peacemaking, itself, can be stressful. Because where there is peacemaking-there is conflict. What I mean is that if there is no conflict then peacemaking is not necessary. Wherever there is a need for peacemaking there is conflict-and conflict is stressful. But I want to focus for a moment on those times when it simply seems like it's impossible to pray. We're struggling against-we don't really know what-but it's a fight inside our mind or our spirit that simply won't quit. Maybe one way to look at Jacob's encounter that night is that he took an aggressive stance-that is, he aggressively sought God's help. When the man said, "Let me go for the dawn is breaking," Jacob, himself, hung in there and said, "No, not until you bless me." Jacob focused a lot on blessing. He engaged in some trickery to obtain a blessing from his father. And here, he seems to be demanding a blessing from God. And I'm not sure what this was about, but when you consider the context-the surrounding passages-perhaps this demand for a blessing was really a prayer for success in his quest to make peace with his brother. Maybe this was like a night of torment and fear-where he was very worried about all the things that could go wrong in his attempt to reconcile with his brother-and in the midst of the struggle he cries out (prays, if you will) for God to bless his efforts to reach out in peace. And may I say that this might have been a crisis point for Jacob-thinking about reconciliation. Because he really wasn't the best at relationships. He had this terrible rift with his brother. And he was not on the best of terms with his father-in-law. And his wives' brothers didn't like him. Maybe this struggle with the angel meant that he deeply wanted this reconciliation to work. Maybe he felt desperate for God to bless this encounter. As I said, this is a puzzling passage and it leaves a lot to the imagination. But I can see parallels here for you and me. We all have our struggles in the middle of the night. Perplexing problems wake us up and keep us awake sometimes in an all-night struggle. Efforts at prayer are unsuccessful as wave after wave of concerns flood our thoughts. In the midst of those times, perhaps our cry is a little different than Jacob's. Rather than bless me, about all we can do is say, "Lord, help me." What I would like to suggest today is that perhaps even those times of struggle are a kind of prayer. And that even those times when we think we're unable to pray-perhaps God is there and is hearing us more clearly than we could imagine. Have you ever noticed that when the dawn finally comes everything starts to look a little different: less troublesome, less fearful, even less overwhelming. As the light of day comes so also comes light into our worrisome situations. The light brings hope. And we realize that perhaps even the struggles we encountered in the night were a kind of prayer-wrestling with prayer, or wrestling with God, through the struggle seeking some help and some hope. In Luke 11, Jesus' disciples came to him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." As we think about those times of struggle in our lives and those times when prayer is difficult, we realize that we have the same request as the disciples: Lord teach us to pray. And we recognize that it is a lifelong request to learn more and more about how to pray. In Luke 11, Jesus starts with some simple suggestions and offers the shorter version of the Lord's Prayer that is found in Luke. It includes praise, an invitation for God's guidance and leadership, prayer for basic needs, a request for forgiveness, and a prayer for protection from temptation or the time of trial. But then, Jesus tells some stories that show that he understands the struggle that is sometimes involved in prayer. Ask and keep on asking, he says. Be persistent. Like asking your neighbor if you can borrow bread at midnight, persistence pays off. The neighbor got up and loaned some bread-not out of love or compassion or kindness-but simply to get you to go away. And it seems like a strange story if you think of God as the neighbor who didn't want to be bothered. But Jesus' message comes through clear enough: you have to be persistent and not give up. And then Jesus goes on to show yet again that he knows something about the struggle of prayer. Ask, seek, and knock, he says. And he means, keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Yes, the prayer, "Lord, teach us to pray," is a lifelong prayer. We've learned a little, perhaps, but still have lots to learn. May the Lord help us through those times when prayer is a struggle, and continue to teach us more about prayer. |