Real Intimacy and Wrestling in Prayer

We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch.

This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch.

Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristchurchEastBay.org.

Good morning, Christchurch. My name is Carrie Moulton, and I'm a member of the Welcome Team.

And today's reading is from the Old Testament, Genesis chapter 32, verses 7 through 12, and 22 to 32.

Genesis 32:7–12

In great fear and distress, Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.

He thought, if Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.

Then Jacob prayed,

O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who have said to me,

Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper.

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant.

I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.

But you have said, I will surely make you prosper, and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.

That night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.

After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.

When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip,

so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

And then the man said,

Let me go, for it is daybreak.

But Jacob replied,

I will not let you go unless you bless me.

The man asked,

What is your name?

Jacob, he answered.

Then the man said,

Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,

because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.

Jacob said,

Please tell me your name.

But he replied,

Why do you ask my name?

Then he blessed him there.

So Jacob called the place Peniel,

saying,

It is because I saw God face to face,

and yet my life was spared.

The sun rose over him as he passed Peniel,

and he was limping because of his hip.

Therefore, to this day,

the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,

because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tenderloin.

Near the tendon, sorry.

The grass withers, and the flowers fade.

But the word of our God stands for over.

We are going to have a Q&A after this service,

as we're closing out this sermon series on Genesis.

So anything from today's text,

anything from this book of Genesis,

the Bible as a whole,

anything about Christianity,

anything about life with God,

if you have questions,

we'd love to not just have a monologue here,

but to have a dialogue.

So please come and join me after the service for some Q&A.

For me personally,

the book of Genesis has held me fast

in what's been kind of a challenging season,

but it's helped me to connect with the power of our creator God.

It's helped me connect with,

in a fresh way,

with the grace of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

All these amazing promises and blessings

that the Lord has for his people

from beginning with that mother promise in Genesis 3.15

that through the offspring of the woman,

God will win a victory over evil.

All the way to this promise in Genesis 32.10

that God in his kindness,

God in his faithfulness,

will make his people prosper.

He'll multiply them like the sand of the sea.

And if you identify as a Christian,

you're a child of Abraham.

If you have been baptized,

you're a son of Jacob.

You're a daughter of Jacob.

And all these promises,

all these blessings are yours.

We're going to close this series today with Jacob,

who's probably one of the characters in Genesis

we can identify with the most

because he's a real sinner.

As we say in the South,

he's a deep-fried sinner.

And his spiritual life is bracketed

by these two nighttime encounters with God.

We remember a few weeks ago

his first encounter in Genesis 28

in that place called Beth-El,

the house of God.

And now in his second encounter in Genesis 32

in this place called Penny-El,

the face of God.

And this is really the great turning point of his life.

He has this life-changing encounter

with the living God

and he basically becomes a new person, right?

He never walked the same way again

having encountered the living God.

So I want to conclude our series

with a four-point sermon.

It began this morning as a five-point sermon,

so you're welcome.

And I should have you all out of here

in a couple of hours.

It should be fine.

But I want to talk about getting alone with God,

wrestling with God,

living with a new name,

and seeing the face of God.

So getting alone with God,

wrestling with God,

living with a new name,

and seeing the face of God.

So let's talk about getting alone with God.

Verse 7 says that Jacob's afraid

and in verse 24 it says Jacob's alone.

So why is he afraid and why is he alone?

Well, if you remember his story,

he wrestled in his mother's womb

with his twin brother,

his brother Esau.

And the story, as it's told,

is that Jacob came out of the womb

and he was grabbing the heel

of his brother Esau.

And everybody saw that

and they thought,

oh, that's so cute.

He's grappling with his brother.

He's wrestling his brother.

And so they named him Jacob,

which means heel grabber.

But nobody really thought about

how that was going to unfold, right?

Because for the next 20 years

he'd be wrestling with his brother Esau.

He convinced Esau to sell his birthright

for a pot of stew.

He lied and he acted like Esau

in order to steal the blessing

of the firstborn.

And that's what Jacob is.

He's a heel grabber.

He's a man wrestler.

And he's run away from home

as a fugitive and as an exile

because he's made his brother so angry

that his brother wants to murder him.

And so Jacob leaves the promised land

and for the next 20 years

he finds another man to wrestle with.

His name's Laban.

He's a conniving and covetous man.

And Jacob finds a way

to come out on top again.

He marries not just one of Laban's daughters

but two of them.

He piles up great wealth

at Laban's expense.

And this is just who Jacob is.

He knows how to wrestle with people

and he knows how to win

every time.

But now he's afraid

and he's alone

because he has to face up to his past.

His brother Esau is on the way

with a fighting force

of about 400 men

and Jacob's guilty conscience

is beginning to imagine the worst.

And what is he afraid of?

Well he's thinking to himself

you know if I wrestle my brother

who's coming to meet me tomorrow

this time I'm going to lose.

This time I'm going to die.

And so what does he do?

Well he sends gifts

to pacify Esau

and he divides up his group

in order to minimize

the collateral damage.

But he's still alone

and he's still afraid.

And in his desperation

he prays the longest prayer

in the book of Genesis.

And here's what he says

in verse 9.

Then Jacob prayed,

O God of my father Abraham,

God of my father Isaac,

Lord you who said to me

go back to your country

and your relatives

and I will make you prosper.

God had commanded Jacob

in Genesis 31.3

to go back to the promised land

and Jacob hears the word of the Lord

and he submits to it.

He obeys it.

And now he's learning

how to be alone with God.

Learning how to pray to God.

He's changing, right?

He's listening to God

and he's talking to God.

And his prayer sounds like

one of the penitential psalms,

one of those psalms of confession.

And just listen to the elements

of this prayer.

He says in verse 10,

I am unworthy of all the kindness

and faithfulness

you've shown your servant.

I had only my staff

when I crossed this Jordan

but now I've come in two camps.

Save me I pray

from the hand of my brother Esau

for I'm afraid

he will come and attack me

and also the mothers

with their children.

But you have said

I will surely make you prosper

and will make your descendants

like the sand of the sea

which cannot be counted.

It's a model prayer really.

He says,

O Lord,

God of my fathers,

I'm unworthy.

I'm undeserving

before your goodness.

And he begins to affirm

the attributes of God's character.

He says,

God, you are kind.

God, you are faithful.

And your loyal love

can be counted on.

And you are worthy.

As a result of that,

you're worthy that

I should be your humble servant.

And so he says,

God, as your humble servant,

I'm ready to serve others.

I'm ready to serve my enemies.

I'm ready to serve my brother

who wants to kill me.

And then he petitions God

and he says,

Lord, save me.

Lord, give me salvation.

And he argues his case

for why God should save him.

He says,

Lord,

you made promises to me.

You made promises to Isaac.

You made promises to Abraham.

You said

that you would make me prosper.

You said

that you would make my people

like the sand of the sea.

And so what I'm praying

is I'm praying

that you would keep

your promises.

And so this is such a good sign.

This prayer of Jacob

is such a good sign

because it shows us

that he's learning

how to be alone with God.

Right?

And this isn't just

a one-off prayer

because he gets alone

with God again

in verse 23.

It says that

after he'd sent

his people across the stream

and he sent

his possessions

across the stream,

it says Jacob

was left alone

and a man wrestled

with him

till daybreak.

See, we need

a community

of believers

around us

to help us grow

in our relationship

with God,

to help us grow

in faith,

to grow in wisdom.

But Jacob

would not have had

this life-transforming

personal encounter

with God

if he

had not gotten

alone with God.

if he had not

experienced

solitude with God,

if he hadn't

had some distance

from himself

and his people,

from himself

and his possessions,

he would have never

been in this position

to wrestle with God,

which we're going to

talk about in a moment.

So how does this

apply to our lives?

Well, the question today

is do you get alone

with God?

It's so easy

to be carried along

by a community

of faith

and to experience

the people around us

as they're experiencing

God,

but to not actually

be getting alone

with God yourself

and coming in direct

personal contact

with God

yourself.

Right?

It's so easy

for us to know

information about God

but to not really

know God

himself.

So if your faith

is just cultural,

if your faith

is just sociological,

if it's just cerebral,

if it's just a set

of intellectual propositions

but you're not

actually alone

with God

like Jacob

was alone

with God,

you're not actually

praying to God

like Jacob

was praying to God,

then is your faith

real?

Is your faith

personal?

Is your faith

experiential?

Are you living

externally in an

atmosphere of faith

but that atmosphere

hasn't actually

penetrated you

internally?

It hasn't entered

into the inner life

of your soul?

And here's what

I've learned

is that if we

don't volunteer

to get alone

with God,

often God

will find a way

to get us

alone with him.

Right?

God gets Jacob

alone through

an enemy

who's breathing

down his neck.

I don't even think

Jacob would be

alone were it

not for this

situation that's

utterly beyond him,

that's causing him

to feel absolutely

desperate.

God can use

an enemy like

Esau.

He can use

tragedy,

sickness,

broken relationships,

conflict at home,

conflict at work,

a rebellious child,

financial trouble.

Whatever he,

whatever means

seems good to God,

he can use it

to get us alone

with him.

And like it or not,

the reality is

that a day is

coming in life

when all of us

must be alone

with God.

when you're

wheeled into that

surgery all alone,

when you're on

your deathbed

in the middle

of the night

all alone,

all of us are

eventually going

to be alone

with God.

And so I think

this text suggests

that it's better

to go ahead

and just volunteer

to get alone

with God

and learn how

to pray to God

now before you're

in absolute crisis.

So that's point

one,

getting alone

with God.

Point two,

wrestling with God.

Jacob spent his

whole life

wrestling with people.

He wrestled

with his family,

his brother,

his dad.

He wrestled

with his boss,

Laban.

He wrestled

with the women

in his life.

But what he needs

is to be

spiritually transformed.

He needs to learn

how to wrestle

with God.

And so God

initiates a wrestling

match.

And it says

in verse 24

that Jacob

was left alone

and a man

wrestled with him

until daybreak.

And this is

totally unexpected.

It's absolutely

full of mystery.

Jacob

isn't even sure

who it is

that's jumped him.

He just knows

that he's being

attacked

by some

nameless

assailant.

and really

that's what it means

to be a Christian.

To be a Christian

is to be aware

that someone

has intruded

on you.

Somebody has

interfered

in your life.

Somebody's jumped you.

Somebody has

made you uncomfortable.

Somebody has apprehended

you and they're

bothering you

and they're

holding on to you.

They're not

letting go of you.

That's what it means

to be a Christian.

It means to wrestle

with somebody.

Anybody wrestle?

Anybody ever wrestle

with your siblings

growing up?

All three of my kids

should be raising

their hands right now.

Anybody actually wrestle

in high school

or anything like that?

Like serious?

Okay.

If you wrestled

for just like five minutes

I can't remember

how long the rounds go

but just five minutes

of trying to

overpower your opponent.

Just five minutes

of trying to

pin down their shoulders

in submission

is an absolutely

sweaty

and exhausting

struggle.

And this says

that Jacob

is so strong

he's so resistant

that he will not

be overpowered.

He will not be

pinned down.

Right?

He holds God off

all night long.

And if you go

to a strength trainer

if you go to

you know

a physical therapist

they'll tell you

that your hip

rotation

is the source

of your power

generation.

Right?

If you want

that kind of

kinetic explosive

power

in any kind of sport

especially wrestling

you've got to

strengthen your hips.

Right?

You've got to

drive with your hips.

And this is really

the moment of

Jacob's transformation

because it says

in verse 25

that when the man

saw that he could

not overpower

Jacob

he touched

the socket

of Jacob's hip

so that his hip

was wrenched

as he wrestled

with God

as he wrestled

with the man.

This is the first

hint that

Jacob gets

that

in the dark

he's being

grappled with

by a formidable

foe.

And it doesn't

say that

his

assailant

yanked his hip

or

smashed his hip

or

you know

hit his hip

it just says

that

with a mere

touch

just with a mere

tap

Jacob's hip

was wrenched

it was disjointed

it was dislocated

Jacob was rendered

powerless.

Now why

would Jacob's

wrestling partner

do that?

Why would

he show

his immense

power

by just

touching his hip

so that

his leg

was utterly

painful

and utterly

useless

and utterly

powerless

so that all

Jacob could do

would just

be to

hold on

for dear life

right

would just be

to cling

to him

and to not

let him go.

Why would

he do that?

Because Jacob

his whole life

long

has been relying

on himself.

His whole life

long he's been

relying on his

own strength

right

with his

brother

with his

father

with his

boss

with the

women in

his life

he's saying

I will not

I'll never

surrender

I'll never

be overpowered

and even in

this moment

he's saying

I'm not

I'm not

going to

surrender

to you

but it's

only when

he's wrenched

right

it's only

when he's

wounded

it's only

when he's

weak

and powerless

that Jacob

stops

wrestling

against

God

to hold

him

off

and that

Jacob

starts

wrestling

with

God

to hold

him

close

right

and here's

what it

says

in verse

26

then the

man said

let me

go

for it

is day

break

but Jacob

replied

I will

not let

you go

unless

you bless

me

see before

Jacob

said

I'll

never

let you

overpower

me

nobody

is going

to

overpower

me

but now

Jacob

says

I will

not let

you go

unless

you

bless

me

before

Jacob

says

I was

trying

to make

you

let go

of me

but now

I'm

not going

to let

go

of you

and he

realizes

that the

one who

has the

power

to

dislocate

his

hip

with the

slightest

touch

must also

be the

one who

has

the power

to bless

me

you

must

be the

person

that

that can

give me

the blessing

that I've

always

wanted

and that

I've

sought

by wrestling

with people

and this

is the

moment of

spiritual

transformation

in his

pain

in his

weakness

in his

vulnerability

and his

powerlessness

when Jacob

realizes

that he

can really

only get

the blessing

he wants

by wrestling

with God

now how

does this

apply

to our

lives

well many

many modern

people think

that having

a spiritual

experience

with God

will feel

like a

good thing

will feel

you know

getting close

to God

will cause

me to feel

calm

and centered

and it'll

be healing

and peaceful

and I'll

just be

overcome

by a sense

of love

and comfort

and I'll

be so uplifted

and there'll

be no

unexpected

difficulties

but we

already know

from Genesis

28

when Jacob

encountered

the Lord

of the

stairway

it says

that he

was afraid

and he

felt

extremely

uncomfortable

in the

presence

of God

and the

result of

that was

that Jacob

gave away

10%

of his

wealth

which was

incredibly

painful

and then

here in

Genesis

22

Jacob

encounters

this unknown

wrestler

and it

says he

was wounded

and he

was rendered

powerless

and so

the question

is do you

really want

to have a

spiritual

encounter

with the

living God

the reality

is that

most of

us

if we

want to

transform

life

we're not

going to

be comforted

into a

transformed

life

we're going

to be

wrestled

into it

and what

if like

Jacob

God

loves you

too much

to leave

you the

way you

are

what if

instead of

healing

you

or what

if instead

of preserving

your health

God actually

wants to

change you

which means

that he's

got to deal

with the

things that

are destroying

you

the self

sufficiency

the self

centeredness

operating out

of your own

strength

and your own

strategies

and your own

resources

if he's going

to get rid

of those

things

in your

life

it's going

to involve

a painful

wrenching

what if

God is

actually at

war against

the stuff

within us

that's at

odds with

him

you see

in his

severe mercy

he wrenches

Jacob's hip

and he gets

him into a

position where

instead of

trying to

wriggle his

way out of

God's grip

which is what

Jacob's always

been doing

that

instead

he says

God

you're in

my grip

now

and I'm

not letting

you go

because

only you

have the

blessing I

really need

the blessing

I wanted

from my

family

the blessing

I wanted

from my

work

the blessing

I wanted

from

the significant

others in

my life

I realize

now that

only you

can give

me the

blessing

that I

really need

and that I

really want

and so

he says

oh love

that will

not let

me go

I'm not

going to

let you

go

and he's

wrestling

with God

point number

three

getting alone

with God

wrestling

with God

point number

three

living with

a new

name

living with

a new

name

what

fascinates

me

is that

Jacob

Jacob

says

bless

me

and then

the next

thing

he hears

is

well what's

your name

and that

tells us

that part

of the

blessing

is

getting rid

of our

old name

and our

old identity

and receiving

from God

a new name

and a new

identity

and this is

what it

says in

verse 26

it says

I will

not let

you go

unless you

bless me

and then

the man

asked him

well what

is your

name

and he

answered

Jacob

now what

is God

doing here

does God

not know

his name

you know

when God

asks questions

in the Bible

it's not

for his

benefit

it's

for ours

right

Genesis 3

Adam

where are

you

he knows

where Adam

is

Adam

do you

know

where you

are

in relation

to me

Jacob

what's

your name

do you

know

who you

are

before me

and Jacob

says

well my

name is

Yaakov

my name

is

heel grabber

and he

knows he's

being invited

to confess

his sins

because 20

years ago

I lied

about my

name

in order

to get

ahead

and get

what I

wanted

20 years

ago

I said

my name

is

Esau

and I

pretended

to be

somebody

I was

not

in order

to get

the blessing

that I

most deeply

wanted

and so

now I'm

I'm

renouncing

my wrongs

my name

is

Yaakov

and I'm

not just

renouncing

what I've

done

I'm

renouncing

who I

am

my name

is

Yaakov

I don't

say it

with pride

I say it

with my

head down

because I

have a

grimy

past

and I

have an

unsavory

character

I've

been grabbing

and pulling

and pulling

and lying

and cheating

and manipulating

and overreaching

and deceiving

and living

my life

to win

at all

costs

I've been

self-centered

I've been

self-interested

I've been

self-sufficient

my name

is

Jacob

I'm an

unworthy

sinner

I'm a

slave

to myself

I'm a slave

to sin

I'm a

spiritual

disaster

I'm a

moral

failure

what this

tells us

is that

if we

want to

experience

God

there's

absolutely

no

way

around

just

confessing

who we

are

and the

moment

he does

that

God

gives

him

a new

name

Jacob's

been

holding

on to

God

in pain

saying

bless

me

and

God's

actually

holding

on

to

Jacob

and he

says

to

Jacob

in

verse

28

he says

your name

will no

longer be

Jacob

but Israel

because you

have struggled

with God

and with human

beings

and have

overcome

see what does

Jacob really need

what do we

really need

we need to

know

who we are

in relation

to God

we need to

know

our true

identity

and what is

that

well this

name

Israel

it's a name

L means

God

it's a name

that means

God

fights

God

wins

God

rules

and when

applied to

Jacob

the name

means

from now

on

you are

one who

fights

with God

and wins

with God

and rules

with God

that is

your true

nature

that is

your deep

essence

that is

to be

your authentic

identity

and the way

that you

define yourself

from here

on out

and as

Israel

you will

no longer

struggle

you'll no

longer prevail

in your own

strength

you'll struggle

and prevail

in God's

strength

you are to be

one

who persistently

struggles with

God

in humble

prayer

and with a

limp

permanently

crumpled

physically

but empowered

spiritually

until you

overcome

you're to be

one who

clings

dependently

to God

until God

gets the

victory

in your

life

you guys

tracking with me

how does this

apply

to our lives

well

I think all

of us want

to get the

blessing

I think all

of us want

someone who

matters

to lay their

hands on us

and to take us

in their arms

to take us in

their grip

and to say

you're worthy

you're special

you have a name

of significance

you have an

identity

with a hopeful

future

and you know

there's so much

pain in the

world because

everybody wants

the blessing

but they don't

actually know

how to get

it

and in our

secular age

masses of

people are

experiencing

identity crises

that are profound

and pervasive

everybody's feeling

a burden to name

themselves

to define

their identity

to construct

an inner self

about who I am

apart from any

kind of

transcendent

reality

any sort of

transcendent

order

or power

the modern

project is to

find my

highest truth

in my

deepest desires

and then to

somehow

express the

real me

the authentic

me

and that I

think is a

terribly oppressive

and enslaving

burden that people

have placed upon

themselves because

Genesis 32

says that

identity formation

actually works

the exact

opposite way

identity formation

is not about

inside out

it's about

outside in

it's about

God

coming

to you

and jumping

you

and taking

hold of you

and interrogating

you

and saying

what's your

name

who are you

really

and if you

say to God

well

my name is

good

and my

identity is

fine

just the way

I am

if you say

that

you're not

ready for

God

as long

as you say

I'm okay

the way

I am

you're going

to go on

being okay

but without

God

but Genesis

32 says

by disclosing

your name

by

opening up

your heart

about your

character

and your

condition

before God

by owning

up to the

shadow side

and confessing

the guilt

and the

shame

you put

yourself

in a position

to experience

the mercy

and the grace

of God

because only a

God of mercy

can truly know

us as we are

all the way

down to the

bottom

that we're

Jacob

and yet

he still

loves us

and only a

God of grace

can do away

with our

old name

and our

shady past

and give us

a new name

that points

to a

triumphant

future

God

fights

God

wins

God

rules

and Genesis

32 says

that God

in his

sovereign

kindness

God

in his

sovereign

faithfulness

is a

God

who takes

Jacob's

with all

of our

failures

with all

of our

sorry

track

records

with all

of our

unworthiness

that makes

us

and he makes

us

into

Israels

he takes

people

manipulators

and turns

them into

God

wrestlers

and he

gives us

a name

that we

can be

proud of

a name

that we

can aspire

to live

up to

and really

this is

what it

means

to be

a

Christian

that you

no longer

identify

as someone

who's

centered

on

yourself

and what

you make

of yourself

you identify

as a person

who's centered

on God

and what

God

makes

of you

and when

you're

baptized

into the

name

of the

Father

Son

and Holy

Spirit

you now

identify

as someone

who's

personally

related

to the

living

and triune

God

and when

you take

upon

yourself

the name

Christian

which means

little

Christ

you no

longer

identify

as yourself

you identify

as Christ

which means

that your

old

self

your Jacob

identity

is dead

and your

new self

your Israel

identity

is alive

you are

in Christ

you are

united

to the

resurrected

Lord

and you

are alive

to the

love

of the

Trinity

who's

clinging

to you

and will

never

let you

go

from

his

blessing

and so

friends

do you

know

do you

know

who

you

are

what's

your

name

are

you

living

from

your

God

given

name

and

your

God

given

identity

point

number

four

and I'm

glad I

cut

point

number

five

I'm

seeing

that

at

this

point

point

number

four

is

seeing

the face

of

God

right

having

gotten

alone

with

God

having

wrestled

with

God

having

received

a new

name

from

God

seeing

the face

of

God

and

remember

the context

is that

Jacob's

forced to

face

reality

he's

got

this

long

dreaded

meeting

with

his

brother

that

he

cannot

avoid

coming

the

next

day

Esau

is

just

around

the

corner

he's

a guy

who's

angry

and he's

been

saying

for

20

years

when my

mom

and dad

die

I'm

going to

kill

my

brother

and

Jacob

doesn't

want to

see his

brother

face to

face

because

if he

sees his

brother

face to

face

he's

afraid

he's

going to

die

and so

listen to

these words

in verse

29

Jacob

said

please

tell me

your name

but he

replied

why do

you ask

my name

and then

he

blessed

him

there

so

Jacob

called

the

place

Penny

L

saying

it is

because

I saw

God

face to

face

and yet

my life

was spared

!

See Jacob

thought

if I

see my

brother

face to

face

tomorrow

I'm

going to

die

my life's

not