Amen. All right.
Well, thank you very much, everybody,
for being here this morning.
And I want to say, of course, I'm very happy
to be here in the Philippines.
And it's been a long time since the last time we were here.
It's good to see some familiar faces, and it's good
to see a lot of new faces.
And I thank you for being here.
I'm not here, of course, by myself.
I've got my family with me.
I've got some of my family with me.
My beautiful wife is forced back home with our four daughters,
and she sends her regards, and she says hello.
But like Pastor Stuckey said, I've got my dad,
and I've got my two sons here with me.
I'm going to ask them, if they don't mind, just real quickly,
I'm going to ask them to stand just
so we can see who they are.
I didn't tell them this, but this is my dad, Felix,
and he's 75 years old.
Can you believe that?
And he's a soul winner,
and he's been getting people saved here.
And then my sons, Joshua.
Joshua, I want to raise your hand.
He's 17 years old, and I've got my son, Joel.
He's 15 years old, and they've been with us.
We've enjoyed having them.
You can have a seat, and we've enjoyed our time while we've
been here.
And of course, I want to just take a few minutes.
Pastor Stuckey said I could have all of his preaching time,
so I'm going to take some of it, unfortunately.
But I want to take a few minutes, of course,
to say thank you to Pastor Stuckey and Ms. Tan,
and I want to thank them for their friendship,
and I want to thank them for all the hospitality, the meals,
the gifts.
They had us in their home for lunch,
and they've been feeding us and taking care of us,
and it's been a wonderful time.
I preached in Pampanga yesterday,
and there's a great crowd here today.
And I said this yesterday, but I want to say it again.
When Pastor Stuckey, of course, before he was a pastor,
when Pastor Stuckey and Ms. Tan were in Sacramento,
they were on staff at our church,
and they were an amazing family to have.
They were just an invaluable asset, and, of course,
we hated to see them go, but I'm glad they're here,
and I'm glad for the work that they've done.
I've been so amazed with the work here in Manila, Pampanga,
Bicol, all the other things.
In fact, I just want to take a moment.
I didn't say this to them, but I'm going to ask,
Pastor Stuckey's already standing, but I'm going
to ask Ms. Tan if she would have mind standing up.
I think we should just acknowledge their faithfulness
over the last many years that they've been here.
Let's just give them a round of applause.
For the amazing work, thank you, the amazing work.
I don't know if you understand the level of pastor
and pastor's wife that you have here in the Philippines,
and I hope that you appreciate them.
I hope you love them, and I hope you make the ministry easy
for them, because they surely deserve it, and we've got,
of course, so many friends here.
I've got Brother Sean, Ms. Ava around here.
I don't know where they're on.
They, they, can you guys stand up for a second?
Brother Sean is actually a staff member here
at Verity Baptist Church.
Ms. Ava's one of our staff wives,
and they've actually just been on vacation.
They haven't done any soul winning.
No, I'm kidding.
I'm joking.
They were in Bicol, and they've done a great job,
and they're doing a great job, and actually,
I'm going to leave Sean here and take Pastor Stuckey back.
No, I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
No, no, no.
We love Brother Sean and Ms. Ava.
They're doing a wonderful job, and we're glad that they're here.
You can have a seat, and of course, there's all sorts of,
there's all sorts of other white people here, too, and so,
thank you guys for coming from the states.
You know, white people get saved, too.
I don't know if you know that, but praise the Lord.
I'm glad for all of you being here.
I'm thankful to all of you.
There's a great crowd, an amazing crowd here today,
and I appreciate you being here.
Well, we're there in Genesis chapter 32.
I'd like you to look down at verse number 24,
Genesis chapter 32 and verse number 24,
and I want you to notice this little statement here,
Genesis 32 and verse 24.
The Bible says this, and Jacob was left alone,
and I want you to notice this little statement here.
The Bible says, they wrestled a man with him.
They wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
This is an interesting, I think this is an interesting story
in the Bible.
We, of course, have Jacob here, and the Bible doesn't really,
I like how the Bible doesn't really tell us a lot.
It doesn't say much.
It just says that Jacob was alone, and of course,
there's a lot of context there, and we'll talk
about the context here in a minute, but the Bible just says
that they wrestled a man with him.
There's no introduction to this man.
Nothing is said about this man.
He's just there at one point, and at another point,
there's just some guy wrestling with him.
The Bible doesn't say a lot.
Whenever I read this, I just kind of envision, of course,
Jacob is in a time of prayer right now.
We're going to talk about that in a minute, and I just kind
of envisioning pacing back and forth as he's praying,
and just some guy jumps out of the bushes, you know,
and just starts wrestling him.
I mean, it doesn't say much.
It says Jacob was left alone,
and they wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day,
and I'm not necessarily preaching on what I'm
about to talk about here in a minute,
but I feel like I should take just a few minutes to talk
about it, you know, about this man.
There's a lot of different thoughts with regards
to who it is that Jacob is wrestling here, and I just want
to give you my thoughts, because I think it's important for you
to understand the context of the sermon.
I believe that the man that Jacob is wrestling
with here is the pre-incarnate Christ,
and that it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself making an
appearance in the Old Testament, and one of the reasons for that.
First of all, the Bible tells us here
that who he is wrestling is a man.
The Bible also tells us, if you look down at verse number 30
of the same chapter, when you get to the end of the story
after this wrestling match, the Bible says,
and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel.
He says, for I have seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved.
This is one of the reasons why I believe that this man
that Jacob is wrestling was the pre-incarnate Christ,
because at the end of the story, Jacob says,
I have seen God face to face.
Now, we know, of course, that in the New Testament,
Jesus says that no man had seen God at any time,
and we know that God is invisible.
We're talking about God the Father.
No man has seen God at any time.
We also know that Jesus is the expressed image of his person,
of God's person, and we know that Jesus said in the Book
of John that he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
So I believe when Jacob is saying
that he has seen God face to face, that he's talking
about the second member of the Godhead, who is God, by the way.
Of course, we know that Jesus is God in the flesh,
but I believe that he's seeing the physical second member
of the Godhead in a pre-incarnate form,
and of course, there's a theological term for this.
When it comes to Bible study,
there's terms called theophanies or Christophanies,
and a theophany is an event
in which God makes his presence known in a tangible way.
For example, like the burning bush, when the Lord appears
to Moses in the burning bush, that would be a theophany.
Then there's Christophanies.
That's a special type of theophany
in which Christ is revealed before his incarnation.
We understand that Christ was born in Bethlehem's manger,
but the Bible tells us that Jesus is from everlasting.
He has always been.
The Bible says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
So a Christophany is when the Lord Jesus Christ appears
in the Old Testament in a physical body,
but it's before his incarnation, before his birth,
and there's examples of this in the Bible.
John, excuse me, Joshua chapter five and verse 14.
Don't turn there, but when the captain of the host
of the Lord appears to Joshua and says to take thine shoes
from off thy feet for the place
where thou stand is his holy ground, that's a Christophany.
That person was God who Joshua was seeing there,
and I believe it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Another example is Genesis 18,
where the Lord appeared unto Abraham.
The Bible tells us the Lord, capital L, capital O,
capital R, capital D, appeared unto Abraham
in a physical human form.
I believe that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
I understand that there are different interpretations
of that, and different people may have different things.
I should have asked Pastor Stuckey what his interpretation
of that is, and I did, and I apologize.
If he has a different interpretation,
let me just say it out front.
He's right, and I'm wrong, and you just listen
to your pastor, okay?
But sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness
than for permission, you know what I mean?
But I believe that this is a Christophany.
I believe it's the Lord Jesus Christ,
and I believe that this man
that Jacob is wrestling is the pre-incarnate Christ.
He's from everlasting, and the Bible says that Jesus is,
he's called the man, Christ Jesus.
So we have this man who appears, and he just begins to wrestle
with Jacob, and I believe that it is a wrestling match
between Jacob and God, between Jacob and the second member
of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, just to give you some context, and I apologize.
I'm going to tell you up front.
This sermon's going to have a little bit
of a longer introduction, and then I'm going to try
to give you three points as quickly as I can, but I need
to kind of set the context
and help you understand what we're talking about today.
First, let me begin with the context
of the story, just to catch you up.
I know you guys probably all are familiar with it,
but just in case you're not, of course, we have Jacob
who is wrestling with the pre-incarnate Christ.
How did we get here?
Well, 20 years earlier, Jacob, if you remember the story,
deceived his father, Isaac, and stole the blessing
of his brother Esau at Rebekah with Rebekah's help,
with his mother's help.
He disguised himself as Esau.
If you remember, he put on raiment of Esau.
He put on animal skins and fur because Esau was a hairy man.
He put hair on himself to seem like he's hairy.
He put on Esau's clothes so he would smell like Esau.
Of course, Isaac, his father,
was not able to see well at this time.
He deceives his father, pretends to be Esau,
steals the blessing, and Esau's anger is kindled.
Esau is furious.
He plans to kill Jacob, and as a result,
Jacob runs away from home.
And if you remember, he runs to Haran.
He serves Laban, who's his mother's brother,
his uncle, for 20 years.
In those 20 years, he marries Leah and Rachel,
and he becomes very wealthy.
I preached about that, actually, in Pampanga yesterday.
And Jacob is now coming home.
The Lord has prompted him to come back after 20 years,
and he has a dilemma.
He has to face his brother Esau,
and he doesn't know how his brother is going to respond.
That's the context of the story.
Now let me give you the context of the passage,
because I want you to understand,
it's kind of an interesting story, this wrestling match
between Jacob and God.
If you're there in Genesis 32, look down at verse number 9,
Genesis 32 and verse 9, just to get the context of the passage.
I want you to see what is happening directly before this
wrestling match.
Genesis 32 and verse 9, the Bible says this,
and Jacob said, oh God.
I want you to notice that Jacob is speaking to God here.
You and I would call that prayer.
He's calling out to the Lord.
The Bible says, and Jacob said, oh God of my father Abraham
and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which sets unto me,
return unto thy country, and to thy kindred,
and I will deal well with thee.
He says, I am not worthy of the lease of the mercies
and of all the truth which thou has showed unto thy servant,
for with my staff I pass over this Jordan,
and now I am become too banned.
He says, deliver me.
This is Jacob praying to God.
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother,
from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come
and smite me and the mother with the children, and thou saidest,
I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand
of the sea, which cannot be numbered for the mold to.
But I want you to understand about this wrestling match.
I'm preaching about the wrestling match between Jacob
and God, between Jacob and the second member of the Godhead.
What I want you to understand is that the context is
that Jacob is in a time of prayer.
He is praying.
Of course, he's concerned.
He's worried because he's coming back home.
He has sent messengers to Esau, letting him know, I'm coming home.
He sends gifts to appease him, and he gets word back from Esau
that Esau is coming to meet him.
And Esau is coming with 400 men.
And of course, Jacob doesn't know what to make of that.
He thinks to himself, this can't be good.
Why would he be bringing 400 men?
He thinks Esau is coming to kill him.
He thinks he fears that Esau is coming to hurt him,
to hurt his family, and he finds himself alone praying to God
and asking the Lord to deliver me.
He says, deliver me, I pray thee,
from the hand of my brother.
The context of the wrestling match was that Jacob was alone
and he was praying unto the Lord.
And then, out of nowhere, this guy shows up
and begins to wrestle with Jacob.
And I believe that the wrestling match between Jacob
and the pre-incarnate Christ is said in the context of prayer
because it is a picture of prayer.
I believe that the wrestling match between Jacob
and God is a picture for us that represents
and illustrates prayer in our lives.
And I'd like to preach this morning on the subject
of the great wrestling match of prayer,
the great wrestling match of prayer.
Of course, when I was coming to the Philippines and preparing
to come here, I was thinking about and praying
about what I should preach about.
And I thought to myself, you know, I could preach a sermon
on soul winning, but I thought they don't need a sermon
on soul winning.
I think they've got soul winning down packed pretty well
over there.
So I thought that maybe a sermon on the subject
of prayer is always needed.
Prayer is something we all need.
There's a connection to prayer and soul winning.
Jesus said, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest
that he would send forth labors into his harvest.
And I think we all need prayer.
And the soul winning here is great.
All the rumors are true about the Philippines.
It is a receptive place.
We have been here, my family and I have been here just a few days
and we've already had 12 salvations in just, I don't know,
72 hours or something like that, a little over 72 hours.
This is a very receptive place.
And it is very receptive, but let us never forget
that we always need to be not only soul winning people,
but praying people.
And though here is a receptive place,
we always need the power of God.
And we always need prayer.
Just when we were coming, we're staying in Pampanga
and the Stuckey family, of course, arranged for a driver
to bring us from Pampanga to Manila.
And it ended up being, there wasn't a lot of traffic
so we made good time, but initially we were told
that it would be about two hours.
The driver said it might be about two hours.
And I was planning on taking those two hours
to just review my sermon notes and kind of look at the passage
and get my mind ready for the sermon this morning.
But as we got down the road, the driver began to, you know,
ask me questions, he said, oh, are you a pastor, sir?
And I said, yes, I'm a pastor, and he asked me some questions.
And I thought to myself, okay, I'm going
to have to get this guy saved now, you know.
And he got saved, praise the Lord, as we were coming
down to church today, gave him the gospel, and he, we prayed.
I said, you're driving, so don't close your eyes.
But I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to close my eyes
and I'm going to pray, you can just repeat after me.
But praise the Lord for that.
The Philippines is a receptive place,
and praise God for that.
And I want to preach this morning on the subject
of prayer, the subject of prayer.
And I'd like you to keep your place there in Genesis 32,
that's our text for tonight.
But if you would, go with me to the book of Luke,
Luke chapter number 18.
In the New Testament, you've got the books of Matthew, Mark,
and then the book of Luke, Luke chapter number 18.
If you would do me a favor, please put a ribbon or a bookmark
or something there in Luke, because we're going to leave it
and we're going to come back to it.
In fact, we're going to be going back and forth between Genesis
and Luke or that area throughout the sermon.
So if you can keep your place there,
I'd appreciate you doing that, Luke chapter 18.
And again, this, the introduction is a little long,
but let me just help you understand the setup here.
We have Jacob, who's wrestling with God, and I believe
that this is a picture of prayer.
Have you ever wondered why prayer sometimes feels
like a hostile interaction between us and God?
I mean, maybe you've never wondered that,
but if you've ever had something heavy on your heart,
if you've ever had a fear in your heart where you're praying
out to God, where you are concerned about the outcome,
you know, you've got 400 men coming to meet you
and you're not sure how this is going to play out.
Have you ever wondered why sometimes it feels
like prayer is this fight, it feels hostile,
it's like a wrestling match that we have with God?
Maybe you've wondered that.
I've often wondered that.
Maybe you've wondered this.
Have you ever noticed that when Jesus teaches,
Jesus taught a lot on the subject of prayer,
but when he gives parables about prayer, have you ever noticed
that the parables are hostile?
I have noticed that over the years, and I don't want
to say that it's bothered me.
Nothing in the Bible bothers me,
but I've often wondered why is it that these parables,
and I've even preached through these parables at our church,
but sometimes they seem hostile.
Let me give you some examples.
You're there in Luke chapter 18, look down at verse number 1.
Here's a parable that Jesus gave on the subject of prayer.
Luke chapter 18 and verse 1, the Bible says this,
and he spake a parable unto them to this end.
So this is the purpose of the parable.
That man ought always to pray and not to faint.
Saying, now here's the parable.
This is the parable that Jesus is teaching
on the subject of prayer.
The stated purpose of the prayer, of the parable,
is that man ought always to pray and not to faint,
and then he says the parable is this, verse 2,
saying there was in a city a judge which feared not God,
neither regarded man, and there was a widow in the city,
and she came unto him saying,
avenge me of mine adversaries.
Look at verse 4, and he would not.
So this widow woman is coming to this judge who's supposed
to protect her, who's supposed to help her,
but he is an unjust judge.
He regards neither man.
He does not regard God, neither regarded he man,
and the Bible says that she comes to him, and she's asking
and requesting, avenge me of mine adversaries, verse 4,
and he would not for a while, but afterward he said
within himself, though I fear not God, nor regard man,
yet because this widow, look at the words here,
troubleth me, I will avenge her,
lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Do you understand that the wording here is not a
welcoming tone?
It's not come and just ask me.
Now there are other passages about asking and receiving,
but here he says it's hostile.
He says this judge doesn't want to do it.
He says he's only going to do it because she trouble with me,
because she weary me, verse 6, and the Lord said,
hear what the unjust judge sayeth,
and shall not God avenge his own elect,
which cry day and night unto him.
Now I want you to understand something,
and I'm not necessarily preaching
on this parable either this morning, but let me just say this.
This parable is not teaching that God is an unjust judge.
In the Bible, we often have parables that are parables
of comparison, where we can set a parable down next to a truth
and next to our lives, and we can compare
and we can see and learn.
There are many parables in the Bible
that are parables of comparison.
There are also parables in the Bible
that are parables of contrast.
This is what this parable is.
It is a parable that says this is what God's not like.
God is not like an unjust judge.
In fact, that's what Jesus says, verse 7, he says, and verse 6,
excuse me, and the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge
sayeth, and shall not God avenge his own elect,
which cry day and night unto him.
So he says God is not like this unjust judge,
but there is a comparison.
There is something that's similar.
Look at the last part of verse 7.
He says, though he bear long with them.
Jesus is saying that God the Father is not
like this unjust judge.
He's not an unjust judge who doesn't want
to hear your prayers, who doesn't want to help you,
who doesn't want to be bothered.
He says he's not like the unjust judge, but he says there is,
though, this idea that sometimes you and I might feel
like God is an unjust judge.
Sometimes you and I feel like God doesn't want to be troubled
with our needs and doesn't want to hear from us.
Sometimes we feel like prayer is a hostile wrestling match
between us and God.
And he says the reason for that, last part of verse 7,
is because God oftentimes bears long with us.
He says though he bear long with them.
The words bear long, and the meaning means
that he delays his response.
He waits for a long time.
And what Jesus is telling us is that because God oftentimes
in seasons of prayer will bear long,
he won't answer immediately.
Because Jesus, because prayer is like that,
sometimes it can seem to us like it's hostile,
like it's this fight, like it's a wrestling match with God.
Let me give you another example.
Go to Luke chapter number 11, Luke chapter number 11.
I'm just highlighting for you that this is what God,
this is what Jesus says about prayer.
Maybe you've never wondered about it.
I've wondered about it a lot.
Luke chapter 11, look at verse 5, the Bible says this.
And he said unto them, this is another parable
from Jesus about prayer.
He said unto them, which of you shall have a friend
and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him,
friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine
in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing
to set before him, and he from within shall answer
and say, trouble me not.
Doesn't sometimes, doesn't it sometimes feel
when you're calling out to God and you're praying
and you're asking that the answer
from heaven is trouble me not?
I'm not saying that's the answer from heaven.
I'm just saying doesn't it sometimes feel that way?
Trouble me not, the door is now shut
and my children are with me in bed.
I cannot rise and give thee.
I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him
because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity.
That word importunity means his persistence, especially
to a point of annoyance.
He will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
What is Jesus teaching?
He's teaching us that though sometimes it seems
like the answer from heaven is trouble me not,
though sometimes it feels like God is a friend that's not
interested in helping us.
God is a friend that's not interested
in our woes and in our troubles.
The lesson that Jesus is teaching is make sure you stay
persistent, make sure you stay with it,
make sure you don't give up because he will rise and give him
as many as he needeth if you stay
with this idea of prayer.
Now you're there in Luke, go back, keep your place there
in Luke, go back to Genesis 32.
What I'm saying to you is this, that sometimes,
I'm not saying it is,
I'm saying sometimes prayer feels hostile.
For us, it feels like we're in a wrestling match
with the God of the universe and Jesus identifies that.
Aren't you glad that Jesus is the master communicator?
He's a master teacher, he gives these parables
and he gives these parables in a way that allows us to realize
that he understands the way we feel.
He was touched with our, he was without sin
but he's felt our infirmities, he's walked in our shoes
and he says this is what sometimes prayer feels like.
I want you to understand how the story ends for Jacob.
In Genesis 32 and verse 28, the Bible says this and he said,
thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel.
This is where Jacob's name is changed to Israel.
He says for as a prince, has thou power with God
and with men and has prevailed.
And look, when you and I pray, and maybe you don't pray
like you should, I don't think any of us pray like we should
but when you and I pray, when we've got impending doom coming,
you ever wonder why God allows these things in our life?
Why does God allow these seasons in our life where we've got
like Jacob finds himself, 400 men coming with Esau
and he doesn't know how that's going to turn out.
Why does God allow the children of Israel to walk
up to the brim of the Red Sea?
That would have been enough pressure but then have all
of Pharaoh's army coming behind.
Why does God, have you ever noticed that God is a player
for the dramatic?
He likes to bring us to the edge, he likes to bring us
to the place where we've got nothing else
and we've got nothing else that we can do.
And here I want you to notice that what God does for Jacob is
that he doesn't just answer his prayer but he gives him power
with God and with men.
And isn't it true that when you and I do pray, isn't it true
that when you find yourself with impending doom,
when you find yourself on your knees having to pray
about that marriage that maybe is not going well
and falling apart, when you find yourself on your knees having
to pray for that child that's going awayward and rebelling
and doing things that they ought not to be doing, isn't it true
when the finances are not going well
and maybe you've lost your job
and you're not sure how things are going to go
and you're not sure how you're going to feed your family,
isn't it true in those moments when you feel
like maybe the answer's not coming from God, isn't it true
that what you and I want in that moment is to know
that we have power with God and with men.
That we've got the power of God upon our lives,
that we've got the ear of the Lord
and that he hears our prayers.
This is the great wrestling match of prayer.
I told you the introduction was kind of long.
Let me give you three points quickly this morning,
as quickly as I can, about the great wrestling match of prayer.
If you'd like to jot these down, I encourage you to jot them down.
I think on the back of your bulletin there's a place
for you to write down some notes.
I'd like you to notice three things
about this wrestling match between Jacob and God.
Number one, I'd like you to notice the work that we do,
the work that we do.
The reason that prayer is illustrated in a hostile way
and the reason that it's illustrated, I believe,
in the story as a wrestling match is because there is a part
that you and I play when it comes to prayer.
There is the work that we do.
If you and I are going to pray, if we're going to have power
with God and power with men, then there is a work that we do.
Notice several things about the work.
First of all, there is the seclusion of prayer.
If you and I are going to have power with God, we're going
to have to realize that there is a seclusion in prayer.
Are you there in Genesis 32?
Look at verse four, Genesis 32 and verse four.
Notice the first part of the verse.
The Bible says, and Jacob was left alone.
Jacob was left alone.
Why is Jacob alone?
Because Jacob comes to a place where no one can help him.
He's got everything that you could need in this world.
He's got all the money.
He's got all the resources.
He's got all the connection.
He's got everything he needs, but God has brought him
to a place where Jacob has no one but God,
and Jacob was left alone, the Bible says.
There's the seclusion of prayer.
To have power with God and to have power with men,
you and I must learn to get alone with God in prayer.
Did you keep your place there in Luke?
I'd like you to go back to that part of the Bible,
but go with me if you went to the book of Mark,
just one book over before, going back from Luke
into the book of Mark.
Why don't you notice what the Bible says
about our Lord Jesus Christ with regards to prayer?
Mark chapter one and verse 35.
Mark chapter one and verse 35, the Bible says,
and in the morning rising up a great while before day.
Mark 1 35, and in the morning rising
up a great while before day.
The Bible says he, this is talking about Jesus,
he went out and departed, notice these words,
into a solitary place and they're praying.
Listen to me, if Jesus had to learn to get alone with God,
you and I better learn to get alone with God.
Jacob was left alone.
There's a seclusion of prayer.
Notice if you would in Matthew chapter 14, you're there
in Mark, just keep going backwards
into the book of Matthew.
Matthew chapter 14 and verse 23, Matthew 14 and verse 23,
the Bible says this, and when he has sent the multitudes away,
he, this is Jesus, notice went up into a mountain apart
to pray, and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Notice that Jesus understood the seclusion of prayer.
Jesus understood that there is a role we play when it comes
to prayer, that we must get alone with God in prayer.
Notice, you're there in Matthew, go to chapter six and verse six,
Matthew chapter six and verse six.
Here, Jesus is teaching on the subject of prayer.
Matthew chapter six and verse six, and the Bible says this,
but thou, Jesus teaching about prayer, he says, but thou,
when thou prayest, notice what he says, he says,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father
which is in secret shall reward thee openly.
I'm telling you this, I believe in corporate prayer.
At our church in Sacramento, we have a time on Wednesday nights
where we pray corporately as a church.
We take prayer requests, and we pray for the church family.
I don't think there's anything wrong with corporate prayer.
I think that if two agree together here on earth
that God hears us in heaven, I believe that we should pray.
You should ask people to pray.
I think there's power in people praying,
but let me tell you something.
If you and I are going to have the power of God upon our life,
we're going to have to learn to get along with God.
We're going to have to learn that there is a work that we do
in prayer, and it is the seclusion of prayer.
You're going to have to learn to shut off Facebook
and shut off YouTube and turn the internet off
and turn the computer off and just learn
to get along with God.
So there's the seclusion of prayer,
but I want you to notice there's a second thing.
Not only is there the seclusion of prayer,
but there's also the exertion of prayer.
Genesis 32, look at our story in verse 24.
Genesis 32 and verse 24, the Bible says
that Jacob was left alone.
And there wrestled a man with him
until the breaking of the day.
Now it's easy for us to read those words
and not think much of it, but I want you to understand
that the Bible is telling us here
that this wrestling match lasted all night long.
What that tells me is
that Jacob must have been a pretty fit guy.
I looked up this idea of wrestling
and I found this article that said this wrestling is an
extremely physically demanding sport that requires wrestlers
to exert themselves in many ways.
Typically, an untrained individual might only manage
about one to three minutes
of active high-intensity wrestling before fatigue forces
them to slow down or step back.
The truth of the matter is this, do you ever fight?
My sons do Muay Thai back home.
And one of the things about those types
of sports Muay Thai or any sort of sport like that is you've got
to really focus on endurance because the truth
of the matter is this, you know, here's the good thing.
If you ever get attacked out soloing,
I hope that never happens.
It's never happened in the second one.
I hope it never happens here.
But if anybody ever jumps out of a bush and starts wrestling
with you while you're out soloing,
don't assume it's God, number one.
But just realize that it's probably going to only last
about three minutes before the two of you have to go
to your corners and drink some water or something
because there's an exertion in this.
Wrestling, physically wrestling and fighting, it's work.
You know how prayer is also work?
The Bible says in Colossians chapter four,
you don't have to turn there, but the Bible says in Colossians
chapter four in verse 12, it says, Epaphra,
this is Paul speaking, Epaphra, who is one of you,
a servant of Christ, saluted to you.
He says, always laboring fervently for you in prayer.
Why would Paul use those words?
Always laboring.
The word labor means work.
Fervently means passionately.
It means heat it up for you in prayer,
that you might stand perfect and complete
in all the will of God.
See, the thing about prayer and the reason
that I think many Christians don't pray and I think all
of us would say that none of us pray as much as we should,
I think one of the reasons is because prayer is a lot of work.
It's work, always laboring fervently
for you in prayer is work.
This is why Jesus said, can you go back to Luke Chapter 18?
I know I'm having you look at a lot of places,
but I want you to see this.
Luke Chapter 18, verse one.
Remember the parable that Jesus gave?
He said, Luke Chapter 18, verse one, the Bible says,
and he spake a parable unto them to this end
that man ought always to pray.
But notice, here's the other purpose
of the parable and not to faint.
The word faint means to fail.
It means to become weak.
It means to get tired.
It means to quit.
Jesus was teaching, I want men always to pray and not to faint.
Why does he say not to faint?
Because prayer is work.
It's an exerting work.
There's the seclusion of prayer
and there's the exertion of prayer.
That's the work we do.
Look, if you were going to get to the place,
because I don't know about you, but I don't want
to just have prayers answered.
I want to be what has been called
over the years a prayer warrior.
I want to be a person who has power with God and with men.
Have you ever met people like that?
It just seems like they have the ear of God.
It just seems like they have the touch of God.
It just seems like they have the power of God.
It just seems, I mean, there's people, some people,
if they pray for your death, you might as well buy flowers
because, you know, it's like, it's just God hears them.
I don't just want prayer answered.
I want power with God, power with men.
There's a work that we do.
There's the seclusion of prayer,
the exertion of prayer.
What I want you to notice, secondly, this morning,
not only do we see the work that we do, I'd like you
to notice, secondly, the work that God does.
Go back, if you would, to Genesis 32.
Look at our story.
We see in this great wrestling match of prayer the work
that we do, but then I want you
to notice the work that God does.
And I'm going to say it this way because I honestly couldn't
think of another way to say it or a better way to say it
or a kinder way to say it, but there is a work
that God does, well, let me just read the verse
for you before I say it.
Look at Genesis 32, verse 25.
And when he, this is the man that was wrestling with Jacob,
the pre-incarnate Christ, saw that he, the man that's wrestling
with Jacob, prevailed not against him, Jacob.
He touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him.
I want you to notice
that the pre-incarnate Christ is wrestling with Jacob.
He's wrestling with Jacob and Jacob is winning.
He saw that he prevailed not against him, Jacob.
So what did he do?
He touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint.
Now let me just say a couple things.
I think this might be confusing to people at times.
It was confusing to me at times when I would think through this.
And you think, how is it
that Jacob is winning a wrestling match against God?
Well, let me give you a practical thought
and a spiritual thought.
First of all, the practical thought.
This wrestling match between Jacob and God, it's the equivalent
of a grown man wrestling with their toddler.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
When your kids are little, you might wrestle with them
and tumble with them and do these things, right?
I mean, you don't have some grown 30-year-old man
take a two-year-old and just, oh, daddy, let's wrestle.
And you're just like, pow, you know, don't do that, all right?
Your wife's not going to be very happy with that, right?
When a grown man's wrestling with their kids,
they're wrestling, sometimes we even let the kid win.
And you're wrestling for the benefit of the child,
to entertain the child, to help the child.
So there's a practical application there.
But let me just say this.
I believe that there's a spiritual application here.
And the spiritual application is this, that oftentimes
when Christians pray, I'm not saying all the time
that Christians pray, but I think that oftentimes
when Christians pray, we get this idea
that our prayer is us wrestling with God, and we're trying
to get God to yield to us.
We're not saying like Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane,
not my will but thine be done.
We're not saying like Jesus taught us to pray, our Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.
No, oftentimes when we're praying,
we're in this wrestling match with God, and we're winning.
I mean, we're not yielding to Him.
Do you understand in a wrestling match, the only way
that someone wins is when one yields.
And while we're not yielding to Him, we're winning.
Do you understand what I'm saying to you?
God doesn't win until we yield.
God doesn't win until we tap out.
God, you say, well, how could Jacob be winning
with a wrestling match with God?
How are you winning in a wrestling match with God?
Well, I'm not winning.
I'm not getting my way.
But have you yielded?
No, I haven't yielded.
I'm not giving up.
Then you're winning.
And we make these things, and we say, God, if you don't do this
for me, then I'm going to quit.
Don't you know?
I mean, I went all the way to the Philippines
for a mission trip.
I mean, all these, I've done this, and I've done that,
and God, you owe me.
We don't say those things out loud.
But don't we think that way?
Don't our hearts say, God, you've got to do this.
You can't do this to me.
You can't let this happen.
You can't let these all send 400 men.
Jacob is winning because he's not yielding.
And oftentimes, you and I wrestle with God,
and we're winning because we're not yielding.
You're there in Genesis 32.
Make your way back to Luke, Chapter 15, if you would.
Luke, Chapter 15.
In the story, we see that the man that Jacob is wrestling
with saw that he prevailed not against him.
He touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint.
And here we see the work that God does.
What is the work that God does?
The work that we do is the seclusion of prayer,
the exertion of prayer.
The work that God does is this, and I'm going to say it this way
because there's no other way that I can think to say it,
but I'll just say it to you, and it is this.
There is the hurting work of prayer.
I mean, what does God do to Jacob?
He touched the hollow of his thigh, that the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint.
You know that oftentimes in this wrestling match between us
and God, during this time while we're praying
and God is delaying his response, we're praying,
but God is not answering.
It seems like God is not listening.
It seems like God does not care.
Do you know that oftentimes during that wrestling match,
there is the hurting work of prayer that God does?
See, God wants us in prayer.
God wants us to get to the place
where we see our own weakness.
Jacob was too fit.
He was too strong.
He was manipulating God, and God had to hurt him.
He had to touch the hollow of his thigh and hurt him.
Look at our story.
Look at the parable, Luke 11 and verse 5.
You want your prayers answered?
You want power with God and with man?
You and I need to get to the place where we see our weakness.
Luke chapter 11 and verse 5, the Bible says this,
and he said unto them, which of you shall have a friend
and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him,
friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine
in his journey is come to me.
Notice these words.
And look at these words.
Highlight these words.
Underline these words in your Bible.
You and I need to get to the place in prayer where we can go
to God and say, I have nothing.
I have nothing to set before him.
When's the last time you and I got along with God in prayer
and went to God to say, God, I need your help?
I have nothing.
I can't do anything.
I can't help the situation.
I can't manipulate it.
I can't orchestrate it.
I have nothing to set before him.
There is the hurting work of prayer.
In prayer, we must come face to face not only with our weakness,
but we must come face to face with our need.
Keep your place there in Luke.
Go back to Genesis 32.
Look at verse 26.
Genesis 32 and verse 26, the Bible says this, and he,
this is the man that wrestled with Jacob, said,
let me go for the day breaketh.
Now, he touched the hull of his thigh, and Jacob's still,
I mean, his thigh is out of joint,
and he's just grabbing on.
And now, the man that's wrestling said,
let me go for the day breaketh, and he said, he said,
this is Jacob, I will not let thee go except thou.
Bless me.
You know what God wants for us in prayer?
It's to not only see our weakness, but to see our need.
Jacob said, I need you to bless me.
I need you to bless me here, and I need you to bless me now.
I need you to do this.
You know, the interesting thing about Jacob is that Jacob,
if you remember, he's the supplanter.
He's the deceiver.
He's the manipulator.
He's the guy who's going to get his way one way or another.
He's not going to wait on God for the blessing.
No, no, no, he'll manipulate the situation.
He'll deceive, and he'll lie, and he'll get that blessing.
He's not going to just let God deal with the issue
of the birthright.
Oh, no, he'll sell the red pottage.
He'll sell the pottage to Esau,
and he'll purchase the birthright.
He won't let God give him the birthright.
He'll purchase the birthright.
He won't let God give him the blessing.
He'll lie, and steal, and take the blessing.
See, Jacob was the guy who was always working something
on the other side on his own, manipulating, deceiving,
orchestrating, always had a plan.
But now he gets to the place where he says,
I've got no plan, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.
You know what God wants us?
God wants you and I to get to the place
where we say there's no plan B, God.
There's nothing else.
There's just you.
Look back to the parable, Luke chapter 11, verse 7.
Luke chapter 11, verse 7.
And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not,
for the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed,
and I cannot rise to give thee.
I say unto you, though he will not rise to give
because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity,
he will rise and give them as many as is needed
for his persistence, for his annoyance.
Why? Because this man says to his,
friend, I've got no one else to go to.
If someone's going to help me, it's going to have to be you.
There's the hurting work of prayer.
Sometimes God has to hurt us to help us.
You understand that?
Sometimes God has to touch the hollow of our thigh
and injure us in order to help us.
You say, well, that's a mean God.
You know, nobody says the doctors mean when he has
to break a bone in order to set it properly.
You understand what I'm saying to you?
Sometimes you've got to tear things down in order
to build them up correctly.
Sometimes the doctor has to break a bone
because it's not set properly.
It's not healing properly.
It's not going to help you in the long run.
So there has to be a break so that there can be healing.
God sometimes breaks so that he can heal.
So there's the hurting work of prayer.
But I want you to notice, secondly, when we talk
about the work that God does,
not only is there the hurting work of prayer,
but I want you to notice, secondly,
there's the humbling work of prayer.
Look back at our story, Genesis 32, verse 27.
Genesis 32, verse 27, the Bible says this, and he,
this is the man that wrestled with Jacob, said unto him,
this is Jacob.
Look at this.
I've always thought this was interesting.
You may have never thought about this,
but I've always thought this was interesting.
Four hundred men are coming with Esau, impending doom.
Jacob is crying out to God, praying.
I imagine he's pacing back and forth, and he's saying, Lord,
I need your help, Lord.
I need you to deliver me, Lord.
I need you.
And then all of a sudden, someone tackles him from behind,
and this wrestling match ensues, and it begins,
and they're wrestling all night long until the day breaks,
and the man that's wrestling with Jacob says, you know,
he sees that he's not prevailing against him.
He touched the hull of his thigh.
Now Jacob has his leg out of joint, his thigh out of joint,
and he still will not let go, and the man says,
let me go, the day breaketh.
And he says, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And then the man asked this question, and I don't think
that if you were that man or if I was that man,
that we would ask the same question.
When he asked this question, Genesis 3 to 27, and he said
unto him, what is thy name?
And you think to yourself, why are you asking that?
But you got to ask this, you got to understand this.
The man just said, let me go, the day breaketh.
And Jacob said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me,
except thou bless me, and the man responds, what is thy name?
When you understand the life of Jacob,
and you understand this wrestling match
within the context of the life of Jacob,
you might understand why the question is asked
when you consider the fact
that the last time we saw Jacob asking for a blessing.
You remember that?
The last time we saw Jacob asking
for a blessing was 20 years earlier.
He was going to his father.
He had put on Esau's raiment, and he had put on sheep's skins
on his arms and on his neck in order to feel like he had hair
and to smell like his brother.
And Jacob approaches his brother, his father Isaac,
and he says, bless me.
And what does Isaac say?
Art thou my son Esau?
And Jacob says, I'm Esau.
And Isaac even says, you sound like, the voice is
like the voice of Jacob.
He says, I'm Esau.
He says, you smell like Esau, and you feel like Esau,
but you sound like, are you sure you're not Jacob?
He says, I'm Esau.
Last time Jacob asked for a blessing,
the question was asked, what is thy name?
And he lied.
He said, I'm Esau.
But now he finds himself alone with God.
And God says to him, let me go, for the day breaketh.
And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And then the question comes, I think, God,
bringing back the memories from 20 years earlier.
He says, what is thy name?
And he said, Jacob.
You know that there's a humbling work in prayer?
God wants us to come to the end of ourselves.
Jacob the manipulator, Jacob the supplancer, Jacob the deceiver,
Jacob the liar, Jacob the schemer, Jacob the liar,
is now coming clean and saying, I'm Jacob.
And God says, thou shalt be no more Jacob.
See, there's a humbling work in prayer.
God often wants to humble us in this wrestling match of prayer.
Can I show you another teaching on prayer
by the Lord Jesus Christ quickly?
Matthew chapter 15, if you would.
Matthew chapter 15.
If you go backwards from Luke, you've got Luke, Mark, Matthew,
Matthew chapter 15.
You say, why does God bring us to this place
where he were wrestling and it seems hostile and he won't answer?
Why doesn't he just answer the prayer?
Why is this fight with God?
You know, I believe that sometimes God is hurting us,
that he might humble us.
In Matthew chapter 15, we have a story about, I think,
an illustration of prayer that's hostile.
I don't know if you've ever noticed this,
but in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 21, the Bible says,
And Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts
of Tyre and Sidon, and behold, a woman of Canaan,
she's a Gentile, came out of the same coast and cried unto him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.
This woman is coming and saying, Have mercy.
Even though she's a Gentile, she's acknowledging him
as the promised descendant of David.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.
My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
I mean, here you have a woman begging for her daughter
who has a devil, verse 23, but he answered her not a word.
Isn't that how sometimes prayer feels?
I mean, you're crying out to God and it's nothing.
You're not asking for something
that you may consume it upon your own lust.
No, she's praying for her daughter
who's grievously vexed with a devil,
but he entered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying,
Send her away, for she cried after us.
These guys, you know, the disciples, God bless them,
but these guys, they're just all-stars.
You know what I mean?
I mean, these guys are just full of empathy.
They're like, Can you send her away?
She's annoying us.
It's a mother with a child who's vexed with a devil.
Look at verse 24, but he answered and said, And look,
please understand what I'm about to say to you.
I read this sometimes, and I think to myself, Lord Jesus,
I love thee, I know thou art mine.
I mean, I love Jesus.
I have with all honor, with all due respect,
sometimes I think to myself, Lord, really?
I mean, this woman's crying out for her daughter.
First, he doesn't answer her.
He answers her not a word.
Then verse 24, but he answered and said, I am not said,
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
She's the one of Canaan.
He says, I'm not sent to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel.
Verse 25, and she came and worshiped him.
Notice her importunity.
She's not giving up.
She's in a wrestling match with God right now.
She's wrestling.
She needs his help, and she came
and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me, but he answered
and said, and again, with all due respect to my Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, I think to myself,
why are you being so mean?
He says, it is not meat.
The word meat means suitable.
It is not suitable to take the children's bread
and to cast it to dogs.
And she said, how would you respond to that?
And she said, how dare you?
This is the last time I pray to you.
This is the last time I go to church.
I knew you'd never answer my prayer.
How does she respond?
He says, first he doesn't answer her.
Then he says, I've not been sent to you,
but unto the lost sheep of Israel.
Then he says, it's not meat to take the children's bread
and cast it to dogs.
Verse 27, and she said, look at it.
And she said, truth, Lord.
Truth, Lord.
Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table.
She said, I agree with you.
I'm nothing and I have nothing.
And all I have is you and all I need is you
and all I want is you.
And if you won't give me bread,
then will you give me crumbs?
I agree.
Truth, Lord.
Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table.
Verse 28, then Jesus answered and said unto her,
O woman, great is thy faith.
Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt.
And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
I'm here to tell you that the answer to the prayer
that you're asking for is available.
The power of God is available,
but oftentimes you and I cannot have it
until we've gone through the process
of the hurting work of prayer
and the humbling work of prayer.
We say to God, truth, Lord.
I'm not disagreeing with you.
Jacob, aren't you the liar?
Yeah, that's me.
Weren't you named Jacob because the name Jacob
means supplanted?
Yeah, that's me.
Aren't you the deceiver and the schemer, the manipulator?
Yeah, what is thy name?
Jacob.
He said, I'm not gonna take the children's bread
and cast it to the dogs.
Jesus, truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs.
And then he says, oh woman, great is thy faith.
Go back to our story if you would, Genesis 32.
I've gotta finish this thing up
because Pastor Stuckey's not gonna have any time.
In the great wrestling match of prayer,
we see that there is a work we do,
the seclusion and the exertion of prayer.
There is a work that God does,
the hurting work and the humbling work of prayer.
But I'd like you to notice lastly this morning
that there is the work that God does in us.
First of all, let me say this, God answers prayer.
In Genesis 32 and verse 28, notice the Bible says,
and he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob
but Israel for a prince has thou power with God and with men.
Look at the last part of the verse.
He says, and has prevailed, and has prevailed.
Let me tell you something,
there is a triumph in prayer, God answers prayer.
God doesn't just answer prayer for the elites.
God wants to answer prayer for all of us
and all of us can be people that pray to God
and have power with God.
James chapter five, you don't have to turn there,
I'll just read this for you.
James chapter five and verse 17,
the Bible says this, Elias,
this is referring to Elijah in the Old Testament.
Elijah the prophet was a great man of prayer.
He's someone that you and I would call a prayer warrior.
He had power with God and with men.
The Bible says, Elias was a man subject
to like passions as we are.
Elijah was a normal guy like you and I.
The difference between Elijah and you and I
is that the Bible says, and he prayed.
And when he prayed, he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth
by the space of three years and six months.
And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain
and the earth brought forth her fruit.
I mean, think about that.
Elijah says, Lord, will you keep it from raining?
And God says, no problem, no rain.
And then Elijah says, okay, Lord,
will you make it rain now?
And then God makes it rain.
Wow, that's a special man.
No, no, he was a man subject to like passions as we are.
God has no respect to our persons.
You and I can have the power of God in our lives
just like Elias.
And I'm here to tell you that there is the power of prayer.
There is a triumph of prayer.
The Bible says in James, ye lost and have not, ye killed
and desire to have and cannot obtain.
Ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not.
I think oftentimes the reason that we don't get
our prayers answered is because we don't even pray.
Because we don't want to engage
in the wrestling match of prayer.
We don't want to engage in the seclusion and the exertion.
We don't want the hurting work and the humbling work.
So we don't even pray.
But let me tell you something, there is power in prayer.
God answers prayer.
The Bible says, Jesus said, ask and it shall be given you,
seek and ye shall find not and it shall be opened unto you
for everyone that asketh receiveth
and he that seeketh findeth
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
God answers prayer.
Cry unto me and I will answer thee
and I will show thee great and mighty things
which thou knowest not.
God is the God who answers prayer.
Now please understand it's often in His timing and His way.
Isn't it true that sometimes God answers a prayer
and you think to yourself,
well, that's not what I was asking, but okay.
I mean, just a couple of days ago,
I was having a talk with your pastor, Pastor Stuckey.
He was telling me about, they were praying
about some situation with a park over there
and it didn't go through.
But the prayer that they were praying got answered
because it led to finding all sorts of other areas
to go solo.
And they're praying, Lord, give us this park
so we can go soloing.
And the answer was, I'm not gonna give you this park,
but by closing this park,
I'm gonna open up a whole lot of other areas for you.
And isn't it true that sometimes God answers prayer
in His timing and in His way?
So there's the triumph of prayer.
And look, I'm saying to you that you and I need to get away
from this Calvinist attitude towards prayer
that says, well, God's just gonna do whatever
God's gonna do.
No!
God wants us to pray, God wants us to wrestle.
I believe that there are prayers that God wants to answer
that if His people got alone with God
and humbled themselves, He would answer for us.
There's the triumph of prayer.
But let me just say this.
And if you haven't been listening to any of the sermon,
just listen for the next couple minutes
because this is really the whole point of the sermon.
It took me 58 minutes to get to this spot.
There's the transformation of prayer.
Genesis 3 to 28 says this, and He said,
thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel.
For as a prince, thou hast power with God and with men.
Say, why does God often delay His answers?
Why does prayer sometimes seem like
a wrestling match with God?
Some of you have been praying and praying
that God would bring about the right person
and you're single and you're asking God
for the right young man to come along
and the right young lady to come along
and you just don't understand,
why can't God just answer this prayer?
I don't understand why this is so difficult.
I mean, it just feels like
this hostile wrestling match with God.
And you watch other people get engaged and get married
and you watch other people get engaged and get married
and you're just not really sure why is God not listening?
Why does God not care?
Maybe some of you are married and you've been praying
about God blessing you with a child
and it's not yet happened.
And maybe there's been difficulty
and maybe there's been issues there
and you watch other people get married
and have baby showers and have children
and God seems to be blessing them
and God seems to be answering their prayers
and you're just not sure.
And it seems like the answer from heaven is trouble me not.
Maybe you're praying about the ministry
and you're praying about a job
and you're praying about a health issue.
You're praying about some situation in your life
and you need God to step in and you're just not sure why.
God, I'm in church and I'm reading the Bible
and I go soul winning and I'm trying to do the best
that I can and Lord, you can do this.
You can answer this.
You can take care of this and there's this wrestling match.
And you and I wonder, why does God put us through that?
Why does he put us through the humbling work of prayer,
the hurting work of prayer?
Why?
And I will say to you this, when God delays his answer,
when prayer seems hostile,
when it seems like prayer is a wrestling match with God,
it's because if you and I faint not, if we stick with it,
God is not only working in us, he is working through us
and he is transforming us into someone
that he can answer the prayer for.
You understand what I just said to you?
Yes, Esau's coming with 400 men.
God needs, Esau and Jacob are twins.
Esau was born before Jacob, but it was God's plan
for Jacob to have the birthright,
Jacob to have the blessing.
God needs Jacob's 12 sons to become 12 tribes
and one of those tribes to give us David
and to give us Solomon and to be the line
that brings us the Lord Jesus Christ.
God needs Jacob.
God wants to bless Jacob, God wants to use Jacob,
but here's the problem, God can't use Jacob.
The way that Jacob got the birthright, God can't use that.
The way that Jacob got the blessing, God can't use that.
So you know what God needs?
God needs to turn Jacob into Israel.
And the truth is that I believe
that God wants to answer your prayer,
God wants to answer my prayer,
maybe in his timing and in his way,
but I believe that the problem is
that God needs to turn us into people
that he can answer our prayers for.
Because God just can't answer the prayer
in your current state of pride,
in your current state of covetousness,
in your current state of sin,
in your current state of deception.
God just can't answer the prayer for Jacob.
So he needs to turn Jacob into Israel.
He says, thy name shall be called no more Jacob,
but Israel, for as a prince,
has that power with God and with men.
So I would say to you this morning,
engage in the great wrestling match of prayer.
Make sure you do the work of the seclusion of prayer
and the exertion of prayer.
Let God do the hurting work
and the humbling work of prayer.
See the triumph and the transformation
that God wants to work in you and through you
through this great wrestling match of prayer.
Let's bow our heads tonight in a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Lord, I pray that the message was clear.
Lord, I pray that you would help us
to understand the lesson.
You don't want to withhold answered prayer from us.
You're not an unjust judge.
You're not a friend that cannot be bothered.
What a friend we have in Jesus.
You want the best for us.
But sometimes the best for us
is to transform us into a different person.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to engage
in the great wrestling match of prayer.
Thank you for this great crowd that's here.
Thank you for the great work
that's being done here in the Philippines.
Lord, I pray you continue to bless it.
I pray that your hand would continue to be
on Pastor Stuckey and his wife,
that you would use them and you would bless them,
that you'd continue this great work to thrive here.
In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray.
Amen.