God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hello,

Many of us are wimps when it comes to our prayer life. We may pray for something for a week or a month and when we don’t see any result of our prayer being answered, we give up.

Never give up!  If you know that you are not asking for a selfish prayer, but are praying for an altruistic reason, ask, ask and continue to ask!  I think we all know when we are asking for something worthwhile.

“…you do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2b NIV)

Below is a story of Jacob. Let’s just say that Jacob wasn’t the most honest of men, and because of his lie, he needed protection and he needed it fast.  In a nutshell, Jacob disguised himself and pretended to be his older brother so that he could receive the blessing given to the eldest son. His older brother was furious with this predicament and was in a position to seriously harm Jacob, so Jacob was in fear for his life. This situation sent him into humble submission and prayer.

“Then Jacob was left alone, and a man [an angel of God] wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of Jacobs thigh; so the socket of his thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then the man said, “let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me…” The man said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed….and he blessed him there.(Gen 32:24,-26, 28,29)

Wrestling requires focus and unceasing exertion until the end of the match. This is why it is the perfect symbolism for an effective prayer life. If you are serious about your prayer request, don’t ever give up until there is no hope left! Jacob was in a difficult situation due to his own actions, so he humbled himself in order to obtain safety from his brother and favor from the Lord.

God shows favor to the humble (James 4:6). In this verse of Scripture, Jacob was very near the territory of his brother and was duly afraid so he fervently prayed. Similarly, we wrestle with the enemy too when we fight off discouragement and temporary loss of hope. The enemy can use bad news to dampen our desire to pray, but we should never give up! It’s easy to lose heart after long term prayers aren’t answered, however, this verse tells us to continue to ask for our blessings from God.

Don’t set a time period on your hope causing you to give up and believe what the doctor, lawyer, judge or professor says about you. Believe what God says: “If you follow my commandments and teachings…you will be blessed.” God hears our knee bending, fervent and long term prayers; the deep groanings of our soul in humble submission. This is the type of prayer He answers for His servants.

“… But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Romans 8:24-26 NIV)

Even if you are depressed, exhausted  and living a life you did not imagine for yourself – pray! We don’t need eloquent words. When we kneel in humble submission at our bedsides asking for forgiveness and guidance He hears us. As children of God we need to remember that God longs to help us just as an earthly father wants to help his children. When we stay within the boundaries of the Lord’s teachings we can expect answers!

God is a very practical help for us, I hope you decide to gain knowledge of Him through His Holy Book.

All my best,

Lisa