Bible Readings:
Genesis 32:22 – 32
Mark 12:32 – 42
Jeremiah 20:1 – 18
Sermon Outline:
Genesis 32:22–28 (NKJV)
22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
27 So He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
I What is salvation?
II What is prayer?
III Who is He?
IV Jacob/Israel
Prayer is power. It conquers God. We overcome Him when we yield. When we are vanquished, we are victors. When the life of nature is broken within us, then from conscious weakness springs the longing which God cannot but satisfy. ‘When I am weak, then am I strong.’ As Charles Wesley puts it, in his grand hymn on this incident –
‘Yield to me now, for I am weak, But confident in self-despair.’ (Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown)
MacLaren, A. (2009). Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis (p. 228). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.