24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him. 26 Then He said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And He said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
28 Then He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there He blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. ~ Genesis 32:24-31
How many of us can God say, “you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed?” Very few, right? We don’t wrestle with men to the end and we don’t wrestle with God to the end. We don’t hold on to God and refuse to let go until He blesses us. Until He heals us. Until He answers us.
We usually let go right before because we start to doubt. We start to get tired of praying the same old prayer. The prayer gets weaker and weaker each time we pray it. We don’t realize that if we just hold on a little longer our blessing is right around the corner, our healing is right around the corner, our unsaved loved one’s salvation is right around the corner. But we have to hold on.
God doesn’t just bless us in that moment and all we have to do is ask once, but instead, we have to hold on, we have to grip onto Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul. To the point that no matter what storm we have to go through we still can hold on to God. Jacob didn’t just hold on when he was strong, he held on when he was weak when his socket went out, he still held on. He didn’t let go because of pain. He didn’t let go because he couldn’t hold on any longer. He probably gripped tighter, saying I will not let go until you bless me.
Imagine if we lived our lives like that. Our prayer lives would be so much more powerful. I mean imagine if we didn’t just pray for a specific amount of time and then call it a day. Imagine if we prayed and worshiped until what we prayed for was answered. Imagine how many healings we would get, the countless blessings, the salvation prayers that would be answered.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Grip Harder.