S) "9 Jacob said, 'O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, "Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you," 10 I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. 11 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. 12 For You said, "I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered."'"
Genesis 32:9-12 (NASB)
O) Jacob began his prayer in humility, acknowledging that God existed, and was good, before Jacob was even born. God was faithful to his father and grandfather. He remembered the promise God made to him, but not in order to coerce God into action. He humbled himself in light of God's great promise to him. while praising God for the blessings He has already given. Then, Jacob laid bare the concerns of his heart. He wasn't seeking justice or trying to plead his case for innocence. Instead, he simply confessed how afraid he was, for his life and his children and their mothers. Lastly, he closed his prayer repeating the promise the LORD made to him. It seems that may have been for Jacob's own encouragement, more than some kind of "but You said," aimed at God.
A) What struck me the most, in reading Jacob's prayer, was the importance of his promise. Without that promise, I wonder how hopeless Jacob may have felt. No doubt, he still would have prayed. After all, he still knew the greatness of God, and had still experienced the goodness of God. But, reminding himself of the promise which was given to him, must have given him the resolve to hope. I have no doubt that God still desires to speak directly into the lives of His children, even to make promises to them. However, we need look no further than the Bible, to find the most important and eternal promises of God to His people. I have seen people make the mistake of assuming God has promised them something in prayer, but the promises of the Bible are unmistakable. I must still be careful not to assume promises in the Bible are for me, just because I like the way they sound, though; context is everything. In the end, in my times of fear or doubt, I must repeat the most sure and everlasting promises of God. Whatever storm or trial may come, nothing will shake the certainty of those promises. Heaven, salvation, His patience and love, His mercy and grace; these are some of those unmistakable promises. In their eternal coming, I can be comforted through any temporal goings.
P) Father, You are the God of my mother, the God of my grandmother. You have been faithful and good for an eternity before I existed. You promised to prepare a place for me, an eternal dwelling in the house of Your Father. You have given the Holy Spirit as my Comforter. In whatever shaky circumstances I may find myself, let me rest in the assurance of Your everlasting promises, that nothing would ever shake my faith in You. Let Your will prevail. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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