May 11

9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:

10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two hands.

11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.

12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which can not be numbered for multitude.

22 And be rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women-servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jab bok.

23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

24 And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God, face to face, and my life is preserved.

Note that the stress, the force, the very sinew of Jacob's prayer consisted in his pleading the promise of God with God. When he came to real wrestling with the Lord, then he cried, "Thou saidst." That is the way to lay hold upon the covenant angel—"Thou saidst." The art of wrestling lies much in a proper use of "Thou saidst." Jacob, with all his mistakes, was a master of the art of prayer: we justly call him "wrestling Jacob." He said, "I will not let Thee go." He gets grip for his hands out of this "Thou saidst."

Here we see true prayer. Saying a prayer is not truly praying. The way to get the blessing is to go to the Lord for it, resolved not to take a denial, nor to part with Him even till we get it. Our Lord allows and encourages His people to use a holy freedom and familiarity with Him, yea, a holy importunity, as He teaches us (Luke xi 8, 9)

"Jacob did not offer a hasty prayer for safety merely in general terms, and then go about his worldly business with all the intensity of his nature. His need was urgent, was deeply felt, and he found time enough to press it before God. The whole night was none too long for his business with God. Wrestling, Jacob came to a point where he was powerless. All he could do was to hold fast to God. God never takes from any of His children their power to do this. Every other refuge may be swept away, but they can cling still."

Closet Promise.—It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.—Isa. lxv. 24.

We quote the experience of one who through patience and faith has wrought great things for God—George Müller. He says: "The full answer to my daily prayers was far from being realized, yet there was abundant encouragement granted by the Lord to continue in prayer. But suppose, even, that far less had come in than was received, still, after having come to the conclusion upon scriptural grounds, after much prayer and self-examination, I ought to have gone on without wavering in the exercise of faith and patience concerning this object, and thus all the children of God, when once satisfied that anything which they bring before God in prayer is according to His will, ought to continue in believing, expecting, persevering prayer until the blessing is granted. Thus I am myself now waiting upon God for certain blessings for which I have daily besought Him for ten years and six months without one day's intermission."