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Ever since I became a Christian, some 38 years ago, I've
heard and read numerous times about our wrestling with God
in prayer. And it has always bothered me, for several
reasons.
One, it is God who tells us to pray and, in most cases,
tells us what to pray about and under what conditions He
will answer our prayers. His Word is filled with promises to
answer our prayers. Yet we are told that we often have to
wrestle with Him to get Him to answer the very prayers He
has promised to answer. That has never made any sense to me.
Consider this: how often do you think Jesus had to wrestle
with His Father in prayer? I can tell you: NOT ONCE!
Two, what are we trying to do when we "wrestle with God?"
Beat Him, subdue Him, make Him submit to us, make Him do
something for us that He does not want to do, make Him do
something that may be against His will? The very concept is
ludicrous.
Three, that expression,
"wrestling with God" is not found in any version of the
Bible - and it very much bothers me when we base doctrines
on expressions that are not in the Bible. "But," you have
just said, either out loud or in your mind, "what about
Jacob wrestling with God?" I'm glad you asked, because I
would really like us to take a close look at that passage.
It's in Genesis 32, verses 24-32.
Now at the top of most Bible pages, there is sort of a
chapter subhead giving important or well-known passages on
the page. On this particular page of Genesis, my KJV Bible
has "Jacob wrestles with an angel." And my NKJV Bible has
"Jacob wrestles with a man." "There," you might say, "is
text-proof that we wrestle with God in prayer." Only trouble
is, both of those subheads are reversals of what the text
actually says, which often is done when man makes up
doctrines.
In verse 25 of the KJV it says, "And Jacob was left
alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the break of
day." And in the same verse of the NKJV it says, "Then Jacob
was left alone and a Man wrestled with him until the break
of day." Now compare the subheads to the text: "Jacob
wrestles with an angel" versus "there wrestled a man
with him." And "Jacob wrestles with a man" versus "a Man
wrestled with him." Neither text says that Jacob wrestled
with the angel or man, but that the angel or man wrestled
with Jacob. Now you may say, "But aren't they the same
thing?" Ah no, they are far different. Let me explain.
I played Judo off and on for about 43 years. In Judo you
have throws of various kinds and grappling (wrestling) on
the mat, in which you are allowed to use arm bars and
certain types of neck chokes using the jacket collar or your
arms. Now in case your
opponent is better than you are when you're grappling, there is a defensive
position called a "turtle." It consists of getting into a
face down position with your legs drawn up into your body
and spread far apart - so you can't be tipped over, and your
arms crossed and close to your sides - blocking any side
entrance, and holding your Judo jacket collar with your
hands so it can't be used to obtain a choke. Final thing is
to tuck your head in tight to your hands. If you can hold
this position for about 60 seconds without your opponent
being able to do anything with you, the referee will make
both of you get back to your feet.
It's a great defensive position for wrestling
(grappling), and I have seen many Judo players (Judokas) try
everything they could to get a person out of that position
but without success. In other words, they were wrestling
with their opponent but their opponent was not wrestling
with them - he or she was doing nothing more than
maintaining a defensive position. The angel or man wrestled
with Jacob, but the Bible does not say that Jacob wrestled
with the angel or man.
When you wrestle, you wrestle with an opponent who is
trying to beat you, not with someone who is on your side -
and God is not trying to beat us, He is on our side!
Look, when the man had enough of Jacob, all he did was touch
Jacob's hip and pop it out of joint; it was that easy. It
was also indicative that he broke Jacob himself, for Jacob
was never the same after that encounter. Check what he
was like before that night and what he was like after it.
Now if you want to believe that you have to wrestle with
God to get Him to do something He's told you in His Word
that He will do, you can do it, but there is no scriptural
justification for it. It's just that somewhere back in the
history of the Church, someone decided from the Jacob story
that we should "wrestle with God" and convinced others and
down it came to us. But if you look closely in the New
Testament alone, you cannot find anyone "wrestling with
God." Who did they wrestle with? The apostle Paul tells us: "We do
not wrestle against flesh and blood [nor against God], but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
That feeling you sometimes get when you're in serious
prayer for others or for your church or for revival, as if
the heavens have turned to brass and there's a heaviness
pressing you down, is not God wrestling with you, it's your
opponent, your adversaries, your enemies. So wrestle with them
until you break through and reach the "throne of grace."
Once you reach that throne, you will find no need there for
"wrestling with God." |
