Honest before God



Prayer: Come, my soul, with ev’ry care, Jesus loves to answer prayer;
      He Himself has bid thee pray, Therefore will not turn away.

Read: Genesis 32:1-12
http://www.esvbible.org/Genesis 32:1-12

Think about It: The simplest and most difficult aspect of the Christian faith is prayer. Even the most ardent and disciplined practitioner of prayer will say that they should pray more. Even the smallest child will say that they know how to pray. How can we the creatures ever even consider speaking to the Creator? We do it because He tells us to. It is an act of obedience, comfort, struggle, and survival. 

Our first reading under this topic for the week comes from the story of Jacob (also known later in his life as Israel – as in the Children of Israel.) Jacob is the grandson of Abraham, the receiver of the covenant with God declaring that he would be the father of a great nation. Jacob is the twin brother to Esau, whose descendants become a severe problem for the Children of Israel. Jacob is a mama’s boy and a deceiver. And Jacob had some intensely interesting encounters with God Himself. Today, we examine what would appear to be Jacob’s first truly honest discussion with God. At this point in Jacob’s story, he has two wives and 11 children and is finally returning home after living with his uncle having run from his own home in order to escape the rage of his brother Esau from whom he stole the family birthright. Needless to say, Jacob is a little nervous. How will Esau received him? Will there be a war between the brothers? He fears for the safety of his small children and his wives. So, finally he turns to God in an earnest and heartfelt prayer. 

Jacob gives us a fairly decent model in this brief prayer. Jacob reminds God that this return home was His idea. He reminds himself that God has been incredibly good to him by reviewing all that has  taken place while he lived with his uncle as he now possesses wealth and a large family. He confesses his unworthiness before God and begs God’s protection from the possible consequences of his treacherous behavior toward Esau. Then he reminds God of His promises and asks that God would fulfill those promises to him. This prayer is honest and doesn’t beat around the bush. And it isn’t even particularly long. This prayer speaks of the beginnings of deeper relationship with God which will mark the last segment of Jacob’s life. 

God meets Jacob where he’s at (see verse 1) and listens to his prayer. God does the same for us. He invites us to speak with him and pays attention when we do so. The creatures get to speak to the Creator! Why would we give that habit so little attention?

Prayer: Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and pow’r are such None can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin: Lord, remove this load of sin;
Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt, Set my conscience free from guilt.
Come My Soul with Every Care – LSB 779

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more