Prayer..."I will not let go!"

There is an old saying that goes "When it is hardest to pray, pray harder". How true this is. But why is it so hard to pray? If you've been a believer very long, you know that serious prayer is hard work. You know it's a simple privilege we have to come and talk with God as our Heavenly Father and commune with Him. But you also know there's something in this physical body of ours, there is something in me as a fallen being - redeemed though I am - that resists and fights against that privilege. As you contemplate your life, you wonder why is it so hard to find time to spend with God in prayer? Think back over the past week. How much time did you seriously, intently pray in a way that would be described as hard work? When I get done with my prayer time, am I really tired? That is hard work.
You know, we use the excuse that we're busy. Martin Luther's observation was that his days were so busy he could not start the day with less than four hours of prayer. When you stop and think about it, that makes sense, doesn't it? The busier my day is going to be, the more I have to talk over with my God. But instead my thought is that my day's too busy. I have to clip my prayer. "Lord, it's going to be a busy day. Bless me in all I do. Thanks." Out the door. But how much more I would have resolved the difficulties of that day if I had just said, "Lord, this day is awful busy. We've got some things to talk about." Struggling in prayer is intense labor.
We sometimes get disheartened. We don't see change...our loved ones still continue in unbelief, rebellion. Our circumstances don't seem to change.

What should be the focus that compels us to pray? Look at Romans 11:33. These two words are used - wisdom and knowledge. "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Jesus Christ is God. In Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And He is the One in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So because in Him is all wisdom and knowledge, then that is why we persevere in prayer.

In Genesis there is a great passage where Jacob is wrestling with God. Genesis 32:24-29:
"Then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh, so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said "let me go for the dawn is breaking", But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me" And he said "what is your name?" And he said "Jacob". And he said "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."

At this time, Jacob was in fear of meeting his brother Esau. You know the story...Jacob had tricked his father and literally "stolen" a blessing that was meant for Esau. Esau had wanted to kill Jacob, and now years later they are about to meet. And fear grips Jacob. And when he was left alone, a man came to him and they wrestled all night. This man, we are told in verse 28 is God. And Jacob would not let God go until he had received a blessing. He knew in his mind how the day would turn out to be. He would not go and meet Esau without a blessing from God. All night this "wrestling continued" Physical pain came from it as his hip bone was separated. There was agony. Determination. Perseverance. And in the end...at daybreak...Jacob received his blessing. His name was changed to Israel. And a blessing came with that name..Israel means "a man of prayer" Jacob who in his past was a man of trickery...deceit...manipulation...taking control of his own destiny and life was now a man of prayer.
Jacob was now about to face the complete result of all those years of manipulation and treachery...his brother Esau...Prayer with God and seeking God's favor was all that he could rely upon. God changed his name after this night and changed his future forever!

Prayer is like that. We wrestle with our pride, our self-conceived notion of how our life should be. We wrestle with God in confusion...fear....doubt. Not only for our sake but for the sake of others.

I want us to notice that Jacob would not let go until God answered. Do you and I pray like that. Do we "let go" to quickly and then return to a life ruled by "self-will and self-determination"? What blessing are we missing for lack of perseverance?
Prayer is hard work. It often costs us...time...sleep...even physical pain (knees hurting from kneeling to long) But what a blessing would we receive if we "hung on" just like Jacob? What if you and I said as Jacob "I will not let you go until I receive a blessing" And we would hang-on...and keep praying...at all times...in all situations.

Praying for God's glory demands prayer like that. When God answers prayer like that it is for His glory and for His people's good. A blessing is not necessarily removing a situation...Jacob still meat Esau, but the result was totally unexpected...peace. God did not remove Jacob from that meeting...but changed Esau's heart and Jacobs heart...enough that they separated in peace. Jacob's fears were grounded in the flesh and guilt of what he had done in the past. But through prayer and perseverance, God restored and refreshed him in ways he could not have foreseen.
This is what prayer can do...why don't we overcome those hard times with more prayer? Why do we sell out way before the time? Can you and I this week, commit to persevere and "don't let go" until God answers?