And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
On the night before meeting Esau, Jacob wrestled until daybreak with the Angel of the Covenant, Christ Himself, who then seemed about to depart and asked to be released, but Jacob clung to Him and refused to let go without a blessing. His refusal was not boastful presumption but the persevering grasp of one who knew his unworthiness, confessed his sin, distrusted self, and trusted the mercy and promises of the covenant-keeping God. What he sought and received was pardon and assurance of restored favor, with deliverance from Esau joined to deliverance from himself, the breaking of evil in his nature and the changing of his character from supplanter to prince with God. The verse therefore means persistent importunate prayer that lays hold of God's strength and promises with living faith, agonizes, denies self, and will not faint through weariness, delay and trial until the blessing comes. That night of wrestling represents the experience of God's people in the final time of trouble, when they will plead day and night for deliverance with fear lest sin remain unrepented, yet hold fast to His promises until He hears and delivers them.
Jacob's Danger and Return
The verse belongs to the night of anguish when Jacob wrestled in prayer for deliverance from Esau, and that night represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble. He had secured by deception his father's blessing intended for Esau and had fled for his life from his brother's deadly threats, then after remaining many years an exile he returned at God's command with family and flocks, with wives and children and flocks and herds, toward his native country and to the borders of the land. There he was filled with terror at Esau's approach at the head of a band of warriors bent on revenge, while his own company was unarmed and defenseless, and with crushing self-reproach because his own sin had brought the danger. His only hope was in the mercy of God and his only defense was prayer, yet he left nothing undone to atone for the wrong to his brother and to avert the threatened danger. So followers of Christ as they approach the time of trouble must make every exertion to place themselves in a proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger threatening liberty of conscience.
The wrestling is connected with his return to his homeland after twenty years away. His earlier deception of his father remained on his conscience, and he recalled both his sin and God's favor, promises of help, and guidance.
Through that night Satan accused him before the angels of God, claiming the right to destroy him because of his sin, and moved upon Esau to march against him. Satan endeavored to force a sense of guilt upon him to discourage him and break his hold upon God. Driven almost to despair and knowing that without help from Heaven he must perish, Jacob had sincerely repented of his great sin and appealed to the mercy of God. He would not be turned from his purpose but held fast and urged his petition with earnest, agonizing cries until he prevailed. His prevailing brought heavenly messengers to move upon Esau's heart, so hatred and revenge were changed to fraternal affection. The night-long wrestling left him disabled but led to his encounter with God and his reconciliation with Esau.
Night Struggle and Wounding
The one who wrestled with Jacob through the night was the Angel of the Covenant, Christ Himself, the Son of God and Majesty of Heaven come as a divine messenger. Jacob did not know Him at first, but near daybreak a touch upon the thigh crippled him and by that putting forth of divine power revealed that the One contending with him was the Saviour. After the touch ended the wrestling Jacob knew he had been wrestling with the Lord and pleaded for help.
The words about the breaking of day mark the close of the night-long struggle, when the divine visitant seemed about to depart and asked to be released. Though told to let go because day was breaking, Jacob clung through the night and refused to release Him until he received a blessing. His determined refusal is the pattern of laying hold of the promises with earnest faith and continuing in prayer through delay, hunger, weakness and severe trial.
At the touch Jacob was disabled with keenest pain, wounded, weakened and helpless, yet his purpose was unchanged even under peril of life. Fallen as a helpless weeping suppliant upon the neck and breast of his antagonist, hanging on and clinging, he pleaded for a blessing and would not relinquish his purpose or cease intercession until blessed. Bodily pain could not turn him aside or divert him, and his living faith grew more earnest to the last through repentance, humility and earnest supplication for pardon.
At first Jacob supposed his opponent an enemy and wrestled for his life against one he thought an enemy. The touch at daybreak revealed the Angel of the covenant, and weeping and helpless Jacob clung to Him and received the blessing his soul longed for, showing that trials may bring benefit and should lead to seeking God's presence and healing rather than being mistaken for the hand of an enemy, despised as correction, or given up under rebuke. God still comes near to bless and to quicken but is not recognized and is met as an enemy, and the same mistake is repeated when the Spirit of God comes to convict of sin and to wash out and cleanse moral impurity. Through prejudice and self and personal feeling mingled with judgment, leaders fail to recognize God in the work and oppose it, and cannot be blessed in their efforts, leaving the people destitute of the quickening influences of the Spirit.
Humble Repentant Persistence
Jacob's refusal to let go was not a boastful, presumptuous claim that would have brought instant destruction, but the confidence, firmness and perseverance of one who confesses weakness and unworthiness, distrusts self, and trusts the mercy and faithfulness of the covenant-keeping God, fastening a trembling grasp upon His promises, and the heart of Infinite Love cannot turn away such a plea. Disabled and suffering keenest pain after the touch to the thigh near daybreak, fallen as a helpless weeping suppliant upon the neck of his mysterious antagonist then known as the Angel of the covenant, the Majesty of Heaven, Christ, he would not relinquish his purpose, and physical pain could not divert him while determination grew stronger and faith more earnest and persevering to the last. His clinging urgently sought blessing in firm dependence for help, humbly trusting God to keep His pledged word even when weakened, in pain and aware of unworthiness, ending in pardon and assurance of restored favor. By persevering, determined, earnest, agonizing faith laying hold upon the mighty arm of power through humiliation, repentance and self-surrender, the sinful mortal prevailed with the Majesty of heaven, and this is the lesson of unyielding faith for the greatest victories of the church and the individual Christian.
Long perplexed, remorseful and troubled for his sin, he must now have assurance that it is pardoned. He appealed to mercy, recalled his sorrow and repentance for past wrongs, and pleaded for deliverance from Esau, knowing he needed God's help to live. Helpless and unworthy, recognizing that human help and power could not save him, he relied on God's promise of mercy to the repentant sinner, which assured him that God would pardon and accept him and sustained him through the conflict while trusting heaven's help rather than his own strength.
What he had vainly sought in his own strength was won through self-surrender and steadfast confiding faith. When wounded and helpless with strength nearly spent, his weakness became the setting for strength, for at the divine touch he knew he had contended with the Saviour and fell upon Christ's breast pleading for a blessing and refusing to be turned aside or to cease intercession until blessed. He renounced cherished sins and stood conqueror, learning that using human skill and craft to secure blessing was opposition to God, and learning instead to rely simply on the Almighty, submit humbly to His will, and depend on the merits of Christ's atonement, with divine power and grace alone giving the blessing and refining his faith until the faith of Abraham and Isaac appeared in him. That midnight struggle as surrender of all self to God melts the cold iron of self, and where it is little known the love of God is feebly represented and God is not present. The episode assures those who have fallen into sin but truly repent that God will not cast them off, but hears the prayer of faith and pardons transgressions when in danger and despair they trust the crucified and risen Saviour in helplessness.
That determined persistence was itself inspired by Him who wrestled with the patriarch, and Christ granted the petition of the helpless penitent soul, rewarded the confidence He had placed in Jacob, gave him the victory, and changed his name from Jacob to Israel as one having power as a prince with God and men and having prevailed. From a man of feebleness and defects he was raised to be a prince with God because he held on in faith and insisted on being blessed, and those who pray fervently and in faith, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, meet God face to face with life preserved and Heaven counts them as princes having power to prevail with God and with men. God is omnipotent and man is finite, yet in converse with God everything may be trusted to Jesus and confided to Him, even the most secret thing of the soul laid open because He knows it all, and Christians need this same new and living experience every day, learning to trust Jesus with more faith, greater trust and more firm reliance.
Prevailing required prior repentance, for Jacob had previously repented of obtaining the birthright by fraud, and because of that repentance God heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life and spared him. Without that prior repentance God would not have heard him. God does not excuse or tolerate sin but requires it confessed and forgiven in preparation for deliverance, and though God heard his supplications and changed Esau's purposes He did not approve the wrong course Jacob had taken. Wrestling prayer that prevails means the same pleading for deliverance, for if unconfessed sins appeared while tortured with fear and anguish they would overwhelm, despair would cut off faith, and there could be no confidence to plead, but while having a deep sense of unworthiness there are no concealed wrongs to reveal because sins have gone beforehand to judgment and been blotted out and cannot be brought to remembrance.
Blessing Received and Changed
The blessing Jacob would not let go without was pardon and assurance of restored favor, with sins pardoned and blotted out through Christ's atoning blood. Seeking it in earnest prayer that refuses to give up comes from a sense of personal inability under infirmity, perplexity, trial, and the weight of solemn work, looking away from all else to Jesus as the only Helper, Way, Truth, and Life, asking Him to carry the burden and make the petitioner a fit vessel. It is met by rest, quietude, and peace found only in Him, peace in the heart, assurance of matchless love, and strength to go step by step in faith and simplicity in obedience to His will. That dependence brings fresh strength through the Holy Spirit, so the weak can do good and exert a positive influence for the religion of Christ.
The blessing came as Jacob, weakened by the touch to his thigh, cast himself helplessly on Christ and persisted in prayer, and it strengthened and prepared him to meet Esau. God heard his supplications and changed Esau's purposes, without approving the wrong course Jacob had taken. Heavenly messengers moved upon Esau's heart, stilled the armed bands, and turned hatred and revenge into fraternal affection.
The blessing meant more than deliverance from an outraged brother; it meant deliverance from himself, the breaking of the power of evil in his own nature, and transformation of character from supplanter to prince with God. Beside the Jabbok he renounced cherished sins, stood conqueror, and received the title of a prince with God. His self-confidence was uprooted and his life changed, for the struggle taught him that using human skill and craft to secure God's blessing was opposition to God, and he learned instead to rely simply on the Almighty, submit humbly to His will, and have his faith refined through trial until the faith of Abraham and Isaac appeared in him. His victory of faith came when he was crippled and helpless and clinging, so that weakness became the setting for strength and victory, and his injured, halting state preceded the stilling of Esau's armed bands.
Clinging for blessing in surrender brings the Saviour's presence, the righting of wrongs, and success in overcoming every defect of character, and it is still possible to obtain and not too late. It is lost by neglect of devotion and the means of grace and by self-sufficiency, and it is gained by making devotion first business with constant watchfulness and earnest prayer until it is received. Through surrender and connection with the Lord, people with weakness and frailty receive divine strength, overcome, go forth strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and become a blessing to others. That determined appeal for God's favor brings assurance and gives light, joy, and triumph. Restoration comes not by freeing oneself from Satan's grasp by one's own strength but through union with Christ, holding to His strength and insisting on His blessing while working, praying, and encouraging the discouraged.
Type of Final Trouble
Jacob's night of wrestling in prayer for deliverance from Esau represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble, the time of Jacob's trouble. It is the final conflict with the image of the beast, the distress of the righteous just before Christ's second coming and just before deliverance. His refusal to release the Angel until a blessing was received, made in distress and with repentance for past wrongs, is the pattern of their earnest prayer for deliverance when tested and tried. They will hold fast to God in unyielding faith, humility, and confidence in His mercy and power to save.
Like Jacob they will wrestle in earnest intercession through fearful agony day and night for deliverance while the wicked surround them and a decree goes forth to put them to death. Escape will seem impossible, they will seem near death and fear that God has left them to fall, yet they will submit to His will and hold fast to His strength and promises. They will not cease pleading though prayers are not immediately answered, but will continue crying to Him while enduring fear, distress, hunger, weariness and delay. Their pleading continues through distress even when they feel unworthy and deliverance is delayed, and after they endure a little longer God will deliver them for the glory of His name.
Their anguish is not dread of persecution for the truth but fear that some sin remains unrepented and some fault will cause them to fail of the Saviour's promise of protection. Reviewing the past nearly overwhelms hope, and they afflict their souls before God, point to past repentance of many sins, and plead the promise of peace. While they have a deep sense of unworthiness they have no concealed, unconfessed, unrepented wrongs to reveal, for their sins have gone beforehand to judgment and been blotted out through Christ's atoning blood. Therefore they can plead with confidence and unyielding earnest determination, and though suffering keenest anxiety, terror and distress their faith does not fail and they do not cease intercession.
God keeps His eye upon them, hears their cries, and sends His angels to comfort and protect them, to scatter thick darkness and press back evil angels when Satan's assaults are fierce and determined. He will deliver them by His voice for His name's glory, and His love in their severest trial is as strong and tender as in prosperity. The delay is the best answer to their petitions, leading them to exercise faith, hope and patience without fainting. The probation now granted is given to learn this lesson of faith and form the habit of trusting God before that terrible pressure comes.
The Angel's attempt to escape and the recalling of Jacob's past wrongs tested and proved him, revealing strength of faith, perseverance and unshaken confidence that God can deliver. So the righteous will be tested in their time of anguish, and their determined persistence in laying hold of the promises must be exercised daily now to prepare for the time of trouble. Even when prayers are not answered at once and hunger, weakness and danger are endured, they are to hold firmly to God's strength and continue pleading until they prevail and are delivered.
Doctrine of Prevailing Prayer
The verse means persistent importunate prayer that holds fast, clings to God with the whole soul, and refuses to let go until His blessing comes. It is wrestling that lays hold of His strength and promises with living, enduring, active faith, clinging to Jesus with all strength and trusting His word even when opposition threatens discouragement. Such burdened prayer for souls, for sacred work, for power in soul-saving, for teachers from highest to lowest grade with students, and for the church in its need, will be blessed and will gain a deep living experience to share with others and with every family.
Prevailing prayer lays hold of the promises with earnest unyielding faith, agonizing before God, denying self, praying long, and continuing to plead when the answer is delayed. It clings when waves of despair sweep over and every power is stretched, enduring weariness, delay, hunger, weakness, danger and severe trial without fainting, and faith must not weaken but hold firmly to God amid hunger and danger until He delivers by His voice. All who are as earnest and persevering as Jacob, willing to forsake sin and seek blessing earnestly, will succeed as he succeeded. Those unwilling to agonize, deny self, and pray long and earnestly will not obtain the blessing.
Such prayer is fervent and in faith, not cold, listless or lazy, and it obtains blessings that would not otherwise be received. Those who pray so meet God face to face with life preserved, and Heaven counts them as princes having power to prevail with God and with men, for God does a great thing for the man of prayer who wrestled all night until daybreak and prevailed.
The holding itself depends on faith that cannot be originated by the human being but is God's gift, the living fire of His own kindling for prayer. It is to be exercised day by day by looking to God and laying hold of His promises with heart, intelligence and strength until He blesses, speaking to Christ for living water and cleansing from every stain. Christ never tears Himself away from one who so holds Him, but remains, supports, and does exactly as He has promised. God so surely keeps His word that heaven and earth would pass before His promise would fail, so one who with humble believing heart and clinging childlike faith takes Him at His word, brings the case to Him and rests it there in perplexity, will never find confidence betrayed, but will be heard and answered with mighty victory.
The midnight struggle means surrendering all of self to God with conquering faith that will not let go without blessing, melting self and self-love away. It shuts the mind from every mortal so the work is between God and the soul alone where life and death are at stake, laying the foundation right by building on Christ instead of self and self-effort, humbling self under God's mighty hand now so He will lift up in due time, breaking away from self-righteousness, freeing the soul from darkness, and allowing God's will to prevail in living connection with Him. That holding on is union with God through Christ, a mystical spiritual union that puts unfading life in the soul, and where it is little known the love of God is feebly represented and God is not present, while those with little experience do not know how to wrestle or surrender and remain anchored in the fortress of self-righteousness where neither God nor man can do anything for them.
Such earnest humble supplication ascends to heaven where Jesus mingles with it the holy incense of His own merit, and through His righteousness it is accepted and made wholly efficacious. It is not by might nor by power but by God's Spirit that light shines forth, and in proportion to grasping the promises the Holy Spirit is appointed to meet the need of those who seek God with all the heart in days of peril, asking even for the very facilities needed to lift truth worldwide.
The holding-on cry must be whole-souled, stirring the whole soul to refuse to let God go without blessing, calling upon the Father from need of communion and dependence for strength to overcome temptation and obtain salvation. It requires earnestness, energy and agony still greater than the agonizing prayers Jesus prayed though He was the beloved sinless Son, who spent whole nights in supplication against fiery temptations. It stands opposite to empty form without saving power, neglect of warnings in the Word, hardly allowing time to pray because of cares and perplexities, loving the world so the Father's love is absent, and hearts overcharged with surfeiting and world-love and the cares of this life.
The agonized longing that will not rest without a special manifestation of God's power may fittingly utter a longer petition in exceptional moments. Such agonized supplication that wrestles and refuses to rest until blessing and power come is in harmony with God's will.
Parallels in Other Stories
Luther's anguish is the same wrestling, for he pleaded through the night not for personal safety but for the triumph of the gospel and the success of truth. In helplessness with face upon the earth he uttered broken, heart-rending cries that only God can fully interpret, his soul fastening upon Christ the mighty deliverer. He prevailed by that clinging faith and received strengthening assurance that he would not stand alone before the council and rulers of the nation. Peace returned and he rejoiced to uphold and defend the word of God, vowing to adhere constantly to the gospel and confess faith freely even though called to seal his testimony with blood.
Moses' persistence in pleading for rebellious Israel is the same holding on, for as Jacob refused to release the Angel until blessing came, so Moses interceded earnestly for a people who did not seek mercy for themselves. The nobleman's and the centurion's desperate appeals are the same imperative faith, clinging to Jesus alone as the only hope in urgent need for a son and refusing to let go without blessing. It is seizing the merits of Jesus as Saviour with urgent, demanding supplication that refuses doubt and selfish wavering even in agony and fear of loss. Like Jacob such a one prevails by holding fast and pleading need, and Christ does not withdraw or tear Himself away from a soul that so clings.
God's mightily shaken people wrestle in the same way, pleading with strong faith and agonizing cries with firmness and great earnestness. Their pale countenances marked with deep anxiety express the inward struggle, large drops of perspiration rise and fall, and at times their faces light up with marks of divine approbation. Safety lies only in keeping the eyes directed upward while evil angels crowd around pressing darkness to shut out Jesus and draw the soul to distrust and murmuring, and while attending angels having charge over them continually waft their wings to scatter the thick darkness and poisonous atmosphere. They struggle with all energy to resist, trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance until a ray of light from Jesus encourages the heart and lights the countenance, while the indifferent and careless who make no effort and do not resist are shut in as in a thick cloud and left by the angels who hasten to every earnest praying one.
The same holding on belongs to earnest pleading for delay of judgment until God's servants are sealed, as an angel urgently asks for delay and as Jesus pleads with the Father to hold the four winds until the sealing of the remnant is done. Taking hold of Christ's strength and making peace with Him in Jacob's special victory strengthens for the coming conflict of perplexity and trouble and deception. To commandment-keeping people when challenged God gives this wrestling, clinging faith to hold fast and claim the everlasting covenant of peace, His sanctuary and tabernacle in their midst forever, and His sanctifying presence as their God. His power is greater than the adversary's, and trust in Him gives courage in spiritual conflict.
Practice in Life and Ministry
Those who carry the burden for souls, call others to repentance, and labor in the harvest field are to cling to God in earnest prayer and refuse to let go until blessed, seeking His presence and asking power to win souls to Christ. Such consecrated intercession is wholehearted dependence and persistent asking for strength and power for the work, with an earnestness that will not be denied. It pleads for ministers, for the weak in faith and laborers whose prayers follow as sharp sickles, for a fuller baptism of the Spirit, for facilities to lift truth worldwide, and for qualification to reach the perishing. When the blessing rests it brings light amid darkness, drawing sinners to come forward for conversion, to confess sins with many tears, to pray, to bear pointed testimony, and to take a first stand for truth, with changed hearts and minds, removal of hatred and revenge, manifestation of Jesus in mercy and forgiving love, peace, newness of life, and reconciliation to hard providences. Such prayer prepares the heart to receive God's power, brings Pentecostal seasons even now, and causes steady light to shine, and more urgent intercession for perishing souls would save far more souls.
Teachers from the highest to the lowest grade are to have a burden for students and wrestle with God in prayer, holding on until blessing comes, and those who do will be blessed in their work. The determined appeal refusing to let go until receiving blessing is the example for educators to cling to God the infinite One in persevering faith as they undertake their work. Sabbath-school teachers need that same will, perseverance and determined refusal to let go without God's blessing, coming close to hearts to convict of sin, reform the heart and win youth to Jesus until hearts are tuned to love and praise God. When the blessing rests on those who so wrestle it is reflected to those under their charge. Ministers are to be active people of prayer gaining heart preparation untiringly before helping others so they present Christ rather than exhibit smartness, and Christian physicians by relying on Christ and persisting reach an elevated standard, with all who acknowledge weakness receiving power and God revealing Himself to earnest seekers.
Before holy convocations the call is to deep heart-searching at home and praying three times a day as never before, letting the heart break before God. Preparation for eating and dressing is made secondary to longing for spiritual food that gives spiritual strength and asking how it is with the soul. The house is to be set in order, children prepared to appear before God with clean hands and pure hearts rather than fine clothes, and every obstacle and all differences between children and between parents and children removed. By finding Jesus at home and taking Him to the meeting the hours there become precious, the Lord's presence and holy angels are invited to attend, their light and presence press back the darkness of evil angels, unbelievers feel the holy atmosphere on entering the encampment, and the gathering becomes as the gate of heaven.
In humble everyday home life the meaning is to grasp the hand of Christ and refuse to release Him without blessing, bringing Him into the home and walking with God. Greatness consists in honoring God by that simple practical experience rather than by scholastic philosophy or so-called higher education. The holding requires possessing the soul in patience, humbleness and meekness, feeling inefficiency and contemplating Christ, for the secret of success is not learning, position, numbers, talents or human will but the Lord God of Israel as strength. Christ answers such clinging by bidding keep near to Him, holding the hand with a grasp that never relaxes, staying day by day to teach lessons of perfect obedience so the believer may be ever with Him. That presence brings light and the risen glory of the Lord upon the believer so that he arises and shines, conquering through Him and gaining victory after victory.
In severe suffering, discouragement and need this is the prayer to pray when hope seems dim and pain seems almost beyond endurance, holding on with earnest struggle until light and blessing come. Praying thus brings the richest blessings, deeper love to Jesus and the Father, instruction and comfort from the Great Teacher, light in the heart, refuge in Christ as a wall of fire, and assurance never known before that the Redeemer lives to intercede. Faith is to hold firmly to God's promise through discouragement until blessing and spiritual strength come, applied to asking God for healing, strength and a message for others with faith rather than unbelief. Those who cannot overcome tobacco by praying alone should humbly ask others to pray with them and continue praying in faith trusting God for victory. To resist the enemy believers must wrestle in earnest prayer, and by using grace bestowed they gain a vigorous Christianity.
In secret the meaning is to go to the closet, take time alone to examine self, test the heart, and plead with earnestness and sincerity, refusing to leave until strength in God is felt, until unutterable longings for salvation are awakened and sweet evidence of pardoned sin is obtained. It stands against formal spiritless prayers, living on past experience, remaining satisfied with self, praying amid distraction and common things, and making excuses when reproved. Afterward comes watching and praying so the grace of God appears in the life, with Jesus brought into the life, self-love and self-exaltation broken, and consciousness of weakness filled with all the fullness of God through determined effort for divine help. The wrestling is self-discipline, humbling of soul, earnest prayer with full determination, removing everything hindering the Spirit especially every thread of selfishness, self-indulgence, natural temperament and perverted ideas, and entire surrender clinging to His arm as everlasting support and continual defense. It is practical daily sanctification producing purity, perfection of character and fruits of the Spirit, gaining victory over self and the world, which must be seen before readiness for Christ's coming, with assurance that He who is rich in mercy and power accepts the surrendered sacrifice and makes the clinging one a partaker of grace and salvation.
The church made depositary of His law must pray this in its present day of trust and probation as the close draws near and the sun is fast westering, seeking God earnestly and alarmed, holding on for blessing until received. There is to be no spasmodic effort falling back into spiritual lethargy and lukewarmness, and because of past neglect with slighted mercies, unheeded admonitions, uncorrected passions and unimproved privileges the effort now must be more earnest. The need is to recover earnest persevering faith and claim God's blessing, whose power to bestow remains undiminished. This wrestling is earnest prevailing individual prayer, praying more and talking less, bringing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, requiring searching the heart, putting away sin, correcting evil tendencies, refusing a form of godliness without spirit and power, and remaining humble and distrustful of self with sufficiency of God. It is the converted experience entered personally rather than waiting for compelling power upon the church or hoping to see the whole church revived, since the unconverted will not unite in earnest prevailing prayer.
Those who expect the Lord to come and are getting ready to meet Christ when He appears, with the end of all things at hand, are to wrestle in living faith and pray as never before, holding on with resolve not to let go except He bless until blessing is received. When His blessing rests they become anxious for others thirsting for the waters of life, reaching after them to open the Bible before them so they may receive light and share the great reward in store for the faithful. The pattern means praying in every difficulty and refusing to let go without blessing, praying that the message of Christ's love may reach precious souls so they too may pray and be refreshed, while watching for the Lord more earnestly than watchers for the morning, hoping in Him, walking in His way, declaring truth and talking faith. Fervent prayer seeks the gift of the Holy Spirit who can turn human thoughts and hearts as waters, giving strength to remain faithful to solemn covenant and carry on God's work.
Seeking salvation and truth for oneself means coming with much prayer and broken contrite heart, building on Christ not self-effort, taking a firm hold of unquestioning faith with fervent effectual prayer and earnestness that will not be denied, demanding blessing and refusing to let go without it in unreserved consecration. It means digging for truth as hidden treasure, plowing the field and working the mines for new gems, pressing right to the light once seen and putting up the bars behind. It means not letting priest or any living man interpret Scripture in one's place but seeing reason and a thus-saith-the-Lord for oneself, with the heart taking hold of what God has spoken. Walking with Him and upheld by Him, the wrestler receives shining light, becomes an individual Christian with living personal experience and conversion, with countenance shining with God's glory. If faith perseveringly grasps the promises it prevails and secures salvation and heirship of heaven, and holding the important position He has given is by believing, hoping, praying, watching diligently on every side, and joining praying with working and working with praying.
The same holding applies in the greatest deadly struggles, sorest trials, besetments and emergencies, when feeling weak and powerless taking hold by living faith upon the strength of the Mighty One and refusing to let go without blessing. It means looking to Jesus as Omnipotence, being girded at every post of duty with power not in self, with divine help pledged and the Holy Spirit as great Helper doing the work while the believer is only the instrument, so grace is sufficient under every circumstance. When work is large and financial responsibilities press, it means seeking the throne of grace with greater earnestness, rising with praise, going to work with prayer, living by the moment and feeling after God, and God meets that clinging by taking the hand and laying it in His own. The words serve as prayer for sanctification and fitness for the Master's use, for pleading a soul's conversion to bring to Him, for being taught by God rather than one's own plans or dependent people, and for watchmen that souls be won as a living church acting with angels by treading sin underfoot. They teach presenting cases trusting His own time and way, leaning on infinite power, baring the soul in secret and putting away defilement to cry for the Comforter, persisting for reform while welcoming correction, wrestling with sincerity, watchfulness and implicit trust unto prosperity according to obedience, serving heartily with energy and shouting victory over darkness, continuing for souls until He looks favorably, and seeking His favor rather than human applause with clear conscience acting prayers.
On the night before meeting Esau, Jacob wrestled until daybreak with the Angel of the Covenant, Christ Himself, who then seemed about to depart and asked to be released, but Jacob clung to Him and refused to let go without a blessing. His refusal was not boastful presumption but the persevering grasp of one who knew his unworthiness, confessed his sin, distrusted self, and trusted the mercy and promises of the covenant-keeping God. What he sought and received was pardon and assurance of restored favor, with deliverance from Esau joined to deliverance from himself, the breaking of evil in his nature and the changing of his character from supplanter to prince with God. The verse therefore means persistent importunate prayer that lays hold of God's strength and promises with living faith, agonizes, denies self, and will not faint through weariness, delay and trial until the blessing comes. That night of wrestling represents the experience of God's people in the final time of trouble, when they will plead day and night for deliverance with fear lest sin remain unrepented, yet hold fast to His promises until He hears and delivers them.
Jacob's Danger and Return
The verse belongs to the night of anguish when Jacob wrestled in prayer for deliverance from Esau, and that night represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble. He had secured by deception his father's blessing intended for Esau and had fled for his life from his brother's deadly threats, then after remaining many years an exile he returned at God's command with family and flocks, with wives and children and flocks and herds, toward his native country and to the borders of the land. There he was filled with terror at Esau's approach at the head of a band of warriors bent on revenge, while his own company was unarmed and defenseless, and with crushing self-reproach because his own sin had brought the danger. His only hope was in the mercy of God and his only defense was prayer, yet he left nothing undone to atone for the wrong to his brother and to avert the threatened danger. So followers of Christ as they approach the time of trouble must make every exertion to place themselves in a proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger threatening liberty of conscience.
The wrestling is connected with his return to his homeland after twenty years away. His earlier deception of his father remained on his conscience, and he recalled both his sin and God's favor, promises of help, and guidance.
Through that night Satan accused him before the angels of God, claiming the right to destroy him because of his sin, and moved upon Esau to march against him. Satan endeavored to force a sense of guilt upon him to discourage him and break his hold upon God. Driven almost to despair and knowing that without help from Heaven he must perish, Jacob had sincerely repented of his great sin and appealed to the mercy of God. He would not be turned from his purpose but held fast and urged his petition with earnest, agonizing cries until he prevailed. His prevailing brought heavenly messengers to move upon Esau's heart, so hatred and revenge were changed to fraternal affection. The night-long wrestling left him disabled but led to his encounter with God and his reconciliation with Esau.
Night Struggle and Wounding
The one who wrestled with Jacob through the night was the Angel of the Covenant, Christ Himself, the Son of God and Majesty of Heaven come as a divine messenger. Jacob did not know Him at first, but near daybreak a touch upon the thigh crippled him and by that putting forth of divine power revealed that the One contending with him was the Saviour. After the touch ended the wrestling Jacob knew he had been wrestling with the Lord and pleaded for help.
The words about the breaking of day mark the close of the night-long struggle, when the divine visitant seemed about to depart and asked to be released. Though told to let go because day was breaking, Jacob clung through the night and refused to release Him until he received a blessing. His determined refusal is the pattern of laying hold of the promises with earnest faith and continuing in prayer through delay, hunger, weakness and severe trial.
At the touch Jacob was disabled with keenest pain, wounded, weakened and helpless, yet his purpose was unchanged even under peril of life. Fallen as a helpless weeping suppliant upon the neck and breast of his antagonist, hanging on and clinging, he pleaded for a blessing and would not relinquish his purpose or cease intercession until blessed. Bodily pain could not turn him aside or divert him, and his living faith grew more earnest to the last through repentance, humility and earnest supplication for pardon.
At first Jacob supposed his opponent an enemy and wrestled for his life against one he thought an enemy. The touch at daybreak revealed the Angel of the covenant, and weeping and helpless Jacob clung to Him and received the blessing his soul longed for, showing that trials may bring benefit and should lead to seeking God's presence and healing rather than being mistaken for the hand of an enemy, despised as correction, or given up under rebuke. God still comes near to bless and to quicken but is not recognized and is met as an enemy, and the same mistake is repeated when the Spirit of God comes to convict of sin and to wash out and cleanse moral impurity. Through prejudice and self and personal feeling mingled with judgment, leaders fail to recognize God in the work and oppose it, and cannot be blessed in their efforts, leaving the people destitute of the quickening influences of the Spirit.
Humble Repentant Persistence
Jacob's refusal to let go was not a boastful, presumptuous claim that would have brought instant destruction, but the confidence, firmness and perseverance of one who confesses weakness and unworthiness, distrusts self, and trusts the mercy and faithfulness of the covenant-keeping God, fastening a trembling grasp upon His promises, and the heart of Infinite Love cannot turn away such a plea. Disabled and suffering keenest pain after the touch to the thigh near daybreak, fallen as a helpless weeping suppliant upon the neck of his mysterious antagonist then known as the Angel of the covenant, the Majesty of Heaven, Christ, he would not relinquish his purpose, and physical pain could not divert him while determination grew stronger and faith more earnest and persevering to the last. His clinging urgently sought blessing in firm dependence for help, humbly trusting God to keep His pledged word even when weakened, in pain and aware of unworthiness, ending in pardon and assurance of restored favor. By persevering, determined, earnest, agonizing faith laying hold upon the mighty arm of power through humiliation, repentance and self-surrender, the sinful mortal prevailed with the Majesty of heaven, and this is the lesson of unyielding faith for the greatest victories of the church and the individual Christian.
Long perplexed, remorseful and troubled for his sin, he must now have assurance that it is pardoned. He appealed to mercy, recalled his sorrow and repentance for past wrongs, and pleaded for deliverance from Esau, knowing he needed God's help to live. Helpless and unworthy, recognizing that human help and power could not save him, he relied on God's promise of mercy to the repentant sinner, which assured him that God would pardon and accept him and sustained him through the conflict while trusting heaven's help rather than his own strength.
What he had vainly sought in his own strength was won through self-surrender and steadfast confiding faith. When wounded and helpless with strength nearly spent, his weakness became the setting for strength, for at the divine touch he knew he had contended with the Saviour and fell upon Christ's breast pleading for a blessing and refusing to be turned aside or to cease intercession until blessed. He renounced cherished sins and stood conqueror, learning that using human skill and craft to secure blessing was opposition to God, and learning instead to rely simply on the Almighty, submit humbly to His will, and depend on the merits of Christ's atonement, with divine power and grace alone giving the blessing and refining his faith until the faith of Abraham and Isaac appeared in him. That midnight struggle as surrender of all self to God melts the cold iron of self, and where it is little known the love of God is feebly represented and God is not present. The episode assures those who have fallen into sin but truly repent that God will not cast them off, but hears the prayer of faith and pardons transgressions when in danger and despair they trust the crucified and risen Saviour in helplessness.
That determined persistence was itself inspired by Him who wrestled with the patriarch, and Christ granted the petition of the helpless penitent soul, rewarded the confidence He had placed in Jacob, gave him the victory, and changed his name from Jacob to Israel as one having power as a prince with God and men and having prevailed. From a man of feebleness and defects he was raised to be a prince with God because he held on in faith and insisted on being blessed, and those who pray fervently and in faith, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, meet God face to face with life preserved and Heaven counts them as princes having power to prevail with God and with men. God is omnipotent and man is finite, yet in converse with God everything may be trusted to Jesus and confided to Him, even the most secret thing of the soul laid open because He knows it all, and Christians need this same new and living experience every day, learning to trust Jesus with more faith, greater trust and more firm reliance.
Prevailing required prior repentance, for Jacob had previously repented of obtaining the birthright by fraud, and because of that repentance God heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life and spared him. Without that prior repentance God would not have heard him. God does not excuse or tolerate sin but requires it confessed and forgiven in preparation for deliverance, and though God heard his supplications and changed Esau's purposes He did not approve the wrong course Jacob had taken. Wrestling prayer that prevails means the same pleading for deliverance, for if unconfessed sins appeared while tortured with fear and anguish they would overwhelm, despair would cut off faith, and there could be no confidence to plead, but while having a deep sense of unworthiness there are no concealed wrongs to reveal because sins have gone beforehand to judgment and been blotted out and cannot be brought to remembrance.
Blessing Received and Changed
The blessing Jacob would not let go without was pardon and assurance of restored favor, with sins pardoned and blotted out through Christ's atoning blood. Seeking it in earnest prayer that refuses to give up comes from a sense of personal inability under infirmity, perplexity, trial, and the weight of solemn work, looking away from all else to Jesus as the only Helper, Way, Truth, and Life, asking Him to carry the burden and make the petitioner a fit vessel. It is met by rest, quietude, and peace found only in Him, peace in the heart, assurance of matchless love, and strength to go step by step in faith and simplicity in obedience to His will. That dependence brings fresh strength through the Holy Spirit, so the weak can do good and exert a positive influence for the religion of Christ.
The blessing came as Jacob, weakened by the touch to his thigh, cast himself helplessly on Christ and persisted in prayer, and it strengthened and prepared him to meet Esau. God heard his supplications and changed Esau's purposes, without approving the wrong course Jacob had taken. Heavenly messengers moved upon Esau's heart, stilled the armed bands, and turned hatred and revenge into fraternal affection.
The blessing meant more than deliverance from an outraged brother; it meant deliverance from himself, the breaking of the power of evil in his own nature, and transformation of character from supplanter to prince with God. Beside the Jabbok he renounced cherished sins, stood conqueror, and received the title of a prince with God. His self-confidence was uprooted and his life changed, for the struggle taught him that using human skill and craft to secure God's blessing was opposition to God, and he learned instead to rely simply on the Almighty, submit humbly to His will, and have his faith refined through trial until the faith of Abraham and Isaac appeared in him. His victory of faith came when he was crippled and helpless and clinging, so that weakness became the setting for strength and victory, and his injured, halting state preceded the stilling of Esau's armed bands.
Clinging for blessing in surrender brings the Saviour's presence, the righting of wrongs, and success in overcoming every defect of character, and it is still possible to obtain and not too late. It is lost by neglect of devotion and the means of grace and by self-sufficiency, and it is gained by making devotion first business with constant watchfulness and earnest prayer until it is received. Through surrender and connection with the Lord, people with weakness and frailty receive divine strength, overcome, go forth strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and become a blessing to others. That determined appeal for God's favor brings assurance and gives light, joy, and triumph. Restoration comes not by freeing oneself from Satan's grasp by one's own strength but through union with Christ, holding to His strength and insisting on His blessing while working, praying, and encouraging the discouraged.
Type of Final Trouble
Jacob's night of wrestling in prayer for deliverance from Esau represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble, the time of Jacob's trouble. It is the final conflict with the image of the beast, the distress of the righteous just before Christ's second coming and just before deliverance. His refusal to release the Angel until a blessing was received, made in distress and with repentance for past wrongs, is the pattern of their earnest prayer for deliverance when tested and tried. They will hold fast to God in unyielding faith, humility, and confidence in His mercy and power to save.
Like Jacob they will wrestle in earnest intercession through fearful agony day and night for deliverance while the wicked surround them and a decree goes forth to put them to death. Escape will seem impossible, they will seem near death and fear that God has left them to fall, yet they will submit to His will and hold fast to His strength and promises. They will not cease pleading though prayers are not immediately answered, but will continue crying to Him while enduring fear, distress, hunger, weariness and delay. Their pleading continues through distress even when they feel unworthy and deliverance is delayed, and after they endure a little longer God will deliver them for the glory of His name.
Their anguish is not dread of persecution for the truth but fear that some sin remains unrepented and some fault will cause them to fail of the Saviour's promise of protection. Reviewing the past nearly overwhelms hope, and they afflict their souls before God, point to past repentance of many sins, and plead the promise of peace. While they have a deep sense of unworthiness they have no concealed, unconfessed, unrepented wrongs to reveal, for their sins have gone beforehand to judgment and been blotted out through Christ's atoning blood. Therefore they can plead with confidence and unyielding earnest determination, and though suffering keenest anxiety, terror and distress their faith does not fail and they do not cease intercession.
God keeps His eye upon them, hears their cries, and sends His angels to comfort and protect them, to scatter thick darkness and press back evil angels when Satan's assaults are fierce and determined. He will deliver them by His voice for His name's glory, and His love in their severest trial is as strong and tender as in prosperity. The delay is the best answer to their petitions, leading them to exercise faith, hope and patience without fainting. The probation now granted is given to learn this lesson of faith and form the habit of trusting God before that terrible pressure comes.
The Angel's attempt to escape and the recalling of Jacob's past wrongs tested and proved him, revealing strength of faith, perseverance and unshaken confidence that God can deliver. So the righteous will be tested in their time of anguish, and their determined persistence in laying hold of the promises must be exercised daily now to prepare for the time of trouble. Even when prayers are not answered at once and hunger, weakness and danger are endured, they are to hold firmly to God's strength and continue pleading until they prevail and are delivered.
Doctrine of Prevailing Prayer
The verse means persistent importunate prayer that holds fast, clings to God with the whole soul, and refuses to let go until His blessing comes. It is wrestling that lays hold of His strength and promises with living, enduring, active faith, clinging to Jesus with all strength and trusting His word even when opposition threatens discouragement. Such burdened prayer for souls, for sacred work, for power in soul-saving, for teachers from highest to lowest grade with students, and for the church in its need, will be blessed and will gain a deep living experience to share with others and with every family.
Prevailing prayer lays hold of the promises with earnest unyielding faith, agonizing before God, denying self, praying long, and continuing to plead when the answer is delayed. It clings when waves of despair sweep over and every power is stretched, enduring weariness, delay, hunger, weakness, danger and severe trial without fainting, and faith must not weaken but hold firmly to God amid hunger and danger until He delivers by His voice. All who are as earnest and persevering as Jacob, willing to forsake sin and seek blessing earnestly, will succeed as he succeeded. Those unwilling to agonize, deny self, and pray long and earnestly will not obtain the blessing.
Such prayer is fervent and in faith, not cold, listless or lazy, and it obtains blessings that would not otherwise be received. Those who pray so meet God face to face with life preserved, and Heaven counts them as princes having power to prevail with God and with men, for God does a great thing for the man of prayer who wrestled all night until daybreak and prevailed.
The holding itself depends on faith that cannot be originated by the human being but is God's gift, the living fire of His own kindling for prayer. It is to be exercised day by day by looking to God and laying hold of His promises with heart, intelligence and strength until He blesses, speaking to Christ for living water and cleansing from every stain. Christ never tears Himself away from one who so holds Him, but remains, supports, and does exactly as He has promised. God so surely keeps His word that heaven and earth would pass before His promise would fail, so one who with humble believing heart and clinging childlike faith takes Him at His word, brings the case to Him and rests it there in perplexity, will never find confidence betrayed, but will be heard and answered with mighty victory.
The midnight struggle means surrendering all of self to God with conquering faith that will not let go without blessing, melting self and self-love away. It shuts the mind from every mortal so the work is between God and the soul alone where life and death are at stake, laying the foundation right by building on Christ instead of self and self-effort, humbling self under God's mighty hand now so He will lift up in due time, breaking away from self-righteousness, freeing the soul from darkness, and allowing God's will to prevail in living connection with Him. That holding on is union with God through Christ, a mystical spiritual union that puts unfading life in the soul, and where it is little known the love of God is feebly represented and God is not present, while those with little experience do not know how to wrestle or surrender and remain anchored in the fortress of self-righteousness where neither God nor man can do anything for them.
Such earnest humble supplication ascends to heaven where Jesus mingles with it the holy incense of His own merit, and through His righteousness it is accepted and made wholly efficacious. It is not by might nor by power but by God's Spirit that light shines forth, and in proportion to grasping the promises the Holy Spirit is appointed to meet the need of those who seek God with all the heart in days of peril, asking even for the very facilities needed to lift truth worldwide.
The holding-on cry must be whole-souled, stirring the whole soul to refuse to let God go without blessing, calling upon the Father from need of communion and dependence for strength to overcome temptation and obtain salvation. It requires earnestness, energy and agony still greater than the agonizing prayers Jesus prayed though He was the beloved sinless Son, who spent whole nights in supplication against fiery temptations. It stands opposite to empty form without saving power, neglect of warnings in the Word, hardly allowing time to pray because of cares and perplexities, loving the world so the Father's love is absent, and hearts overcharged with surfeiting and world-love and the cares of this life.
The agonized longing that will not rest without a special manifestation of God's power may fittingly utter a longer petition in exceptional moments. Such agonized supplication that wrestles and refuses to rest until blessing and power come is in harmony with God's will.
Parallels in Other Stories
Luther's anguish is the same wrestling, for he pleaded through the night not for personal safety but for the triumph of the gospel and the success of truth. In helplessness with face upon the earth he uttered broken, heart-rending cries that only God can fully interpret, his soul fastening upon Christ the mighty deliverer. He prevailed by that clinging faith and received strengthening assurance that he would not stand alone before the council and rulers of the nation. Peace returned and he rejoiced to uphold and defend the word of God, vowing to adhere constantly to the gospel and confess faith freely even though called to seal his testimony with blood.
Moses' persistence in pleading for rebellious Israel is the same holding on, for as Jacob refused to release the Angel until blessing came, so Moses interceded earnestly for a people who did not seek mercy for themselves. The nobleman's and the centurion's desperate appeals are the same imperative faith, clinging to Jesus alone as the only hope in urgent need for a son and refusing to let go without blessing. It is seizing the merits of Jesus as Saviour with urgent, demanding supplication that refuses doubt and selfish wavering even in agony and fear of loss. Like Jacob such a one prevails by holding fast and pleading need, and Christ does not withdraw or tear Himself away from a soul that so clings.
God's mightily shaken people wrestle in the same way, pleading with strong faith and agonizing cries with firmness and great earnestness. Their pale countenances marked with deep anxiety express the inward struggle, large drops of perspiration rise and fall, and at times their faces light up with marks of divine approbation. Safety lies only in keeping the eyes directed upward while evil angels crowd around pressing darkness to shut out Jesus and draw the soul to distrust and murmuring, and while attending angels having charge over them continually waft their wings to scatter the thick darkness and poisonous atmosphere. They struggle with all energy to resist, trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance until a ray of light from Jesus encourages the heart and lights the countenance, while the indifferent and careless who make no effort and do not resist are shut in as in a thick cloud and left by the angels who hasten to every earnest praying one.
The same holding on belongs to earnest pleading for delay of judgment until God's servants are sealed, as an angel urgently asks for delay and as Jesus pleads with the Father to hold the four winds until the sealing of the remnant is done. Taking hold of Christ's strength and making peace with Him in Jacob's special victory strengthens for the coming conflict of perplexity and trouble and deception. To commandment-keeping people when challenged God gives this wrestling, clinging faith to hold fast and claim the everlasting covenant of peace, His sanctuary and tabernacle in their midst forever, and His sanctifying presence as their God. His power is greater than the adversary's, and trust in Him gives courage in spiritual conflict.
Practice in Life and Ministry
Those who carry the burden for souls, call others to repentance, and labor in the harvest field are to cling to God in earnest prayer and refuse to let go until blessed, seeking His presence and asking power to win souls to Christ. Such consecrated intercession is wholehearted dependence and persistent asking for strength and power for the work, with an earnestness that will not be denied. It pleads for ministers, for the weak in faith and laborers whose prayers follow as sharp sickles, for a fuller baptism of the Spirit, for facilities to lift truth worldwide, and for qualification to reach the perishing. When the blessing rests it brings light amid darkness, drawing sinners to come forward for conversion, to confess sins with many tears, to pray, to bear pointed testimony, and to take a first stand for truth, with changed hearts and minds, removal of hatred and revenge, manifestation of Jesus in mercy and forgiving love, peace, newness of life, and reconciliation to hard providences. Such prayer prepares the heart to receive God's power, brings Pentecostal seasons even now, and causes steady light to shine, and more urgent intercession for perishing souls would save far more souls.
Teachers from the highest to the lowest grade are to have a burden for students and wrestle with God in prayer, holding on until blessing comes, and those who do will be blessed in their work. The determined appeal refusing to let go until receiving blessing is the example for educators to cling to God the infinite One in persevering faith as they undertake their work. Sabbath-school teachers need that same will, perseverance and determined refusal to let go without God's blessing, coming close to hearts to convict of sin, reform the heart and win youth to Jesus until hearts are tuned to love and praise God. When the blessing rests on those who so wrestle it is reflected to those under their charge. Ministers are to be active people of prayer gaining heart preparation untiringly before helping others so they present Christ rather than exhibit smartness, and Christian physicians by relying on Christ and persisting reach an elevated standard, with all who acknowledge weakness receiving power and God revealing Himself to earnest seekers.
Before holy convocations the call is to deep heart-searching at home and praying three times a day as never before, letting the heart break before God. Preparation for eating and dressing is made secondary to longing for spiritual food that gives spiritual strength and asking how it is with the soul. The house is to be set in order, children prepared to appear before God with clean hands and pure hearts rather than fine clothes, and every obstacle and all differences between children and between parents and children removed. By finding Jesus at home and taking Him to the meeting the hours there become precious, the Lord's presence and holy angels are invited to attend, their light and presence press back the darkness of evil angels, unbelievers feel the holy atmosphere on entering the encampment, and the gathering becomes as the gate of heaven.
In humble everyday home life the meaning is to grasp the hand of Christ and refuse to release Him without blessing, bringing Him into the home and walking with God. Greatness consists in honoring God by that simple practical experience rather than by scholastic philosophy or so-called higher education. The holding requires possessing the soul in patience, humbleness and meekness, feeling inefficiency and contemplating Christ, for the secret of success is not learning, position, numbers, talents or human will but the Lord God of Israel as strength. Christ answers such clinging by bidding keep near to Him, holding the hand with a grasp that never relaxes, staying day by day to teach lessons of perfect obedience so the believer may be ever with Him. That presence brings light and the risen glory of the Lord upon the believer so that he arises and shines, conquering through Him and gaining victory after victory.
In severe suffering, discouragement and need this is the prayer to pray when hope seems dim and pain seems almost beyond endurance, holding on with earnest struggle until light and blessing come. Praying thus brings the richest blessings, deeper love to Jesus and the Father, instruction and comfort from the Great Teacher, light in the heart, refuge in Christ as a wall of fire, and assurance never known before that the Redeemer lives to intercede. Faith is to hold firmly to God's promise through discouragement until blessing and spiritual strength come, applied to asking God for healing, strength and a message for others with faith rather than unbelief. Those who cannot overcome tobacco by praying alone should humbly ask others to pray with them and continue praying in faith trusting God for victory. To resist the enemy believers must wrestle in earnest prayer, and by using grace bestowed they gain a vigorous Christianity.
In secret the meaning is to go to the closet, take time alone to examine self, test the heart, and plead with earnestness and sincerity, refusing to leave until strength in God is felt, until unutterable longings for salvation are awakened and sweet evidence of pardoned sin is obtained. It stands against formal spiritless prayers, living on past experience, remaining satisfied with self, praying amid distraction and common things, and making excuses when reproved. Afterward comes watching and praying so the grace of God appears in the life, with Jesus brought into the life, self-love and self-exaltation broken, and consciousness of weakness filled with all the fullness of God through determined effort for divine help. The wrestling is self-discipline, humbling of soul, earnest prayer with full determination, removing everything hindering the Spirit especially every thread of selfishness, self-indulgence, natural temperament and perverted ideas, and entire surrender clinging to His arm as everlasting support and continual defense. It is practical daily sanctification producing purity, perfection of character and fruits of the Spirit, gaining victory over self and the world, which must be seen before readiness for Christ's coming, with assurance that He who is rich in mercy and power accepts the surrendered sacrifice and makes the clinging one a partaker of grace and salvation.
The church made depositary of His law must pray this in its present day of trust and probation as the close draws near and the sun is fast westering, seeking God earnestly and alarmed, holding on for blessing until received. There is to be no spasmodic effort falling back into spiritual lethargy and lukewarmness, and because of past neglect with slighted mercies, unheeded admonitions, uncorrected passions and unimproved privileges the effort now must be more earnest. The need is to recover earnest persevering faith and claim God's blessing, whose power to bestow remains undiminished. This wrestling is earnest prevailing individual prayer, praying more and talking less, bringing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, requiring searching the heart, putting away sin, correcting evil tendencies, refusing a form of godliness without spirit and power, and remaining humble and distrustful of self with sufficiency of God. It is the converted experience entered personally rather than waiting for compelling power upon the church or hoping to see the whole church revived, since the unconverted will not unite in earnest prevailing prayer.
Those who expect the Lord to come and are getting ready to meet Christ when He appears, with the end of all things at hand, are to wrestle in living faith and pray as never before, holding on with resolve not to let go except He bless until blessing is received. When His blessing rests they become anxious for others thirsting for the waters of life, reaching after them to open the Bible before them so they may receive light and share the great reward in store for the faithful. The pattern means praying in every difficulty and refusing to let go without blessing, praying that the message of Christ's love may reach precious souls so they too may pray and be refreshed, while watching for the Lord more earnestly than watchers for the morning, hoping in Him, walking in His way, declaring truth and talking faith. Fervent prayer seeks the gift of the Holy Spirit who can turn human thoughts and hearts as waters, giving strength to remain faithful to solemn covenant and carry on God's work.
Seeking salvation and truth for oneself means coming with much prayer and broken contrite heart, building on Christ not self-effort, taking a firm hold of unquestioning faith with fervent effectual prayer and earnestness that will not be denied, demanding blessing and refusing to let go without it in unreserved consecration. It means digging for truth as hidden treasure, plowing the field and working the mines for new gems, pressing right to the light once seen and putting up the bars behind. It means not letting priest or any living man interpret Scripture in one's place but seeing reason and a thus-saith-the-Lord for oneself, with the heart taking hold of what God has spoken. Walking with Him and upheld by Him, the wrestler receives shining light, becomes an individual Christian with living personal experience and conversion, with countenance shining with God's glory. If faith perseveringly grasps the promises it prevails and secures salvation and heirship of heaven, and holding the important position He has given is by believing, hoping, praying, watching diligently on every side, and joining praying with working and working with praying.
The same holding applies in the greatest deadly struggles, sorest trials, besetments and emergencies, when feeling weak and powerless taking hold by living faith upon the strength of the Mighty One and refusing to let go without blessing. It means looking to Jesus as Omnipotence, being girded at every post of duty with power not in self, with divine help pledged and the Holy Spirit as great Helper doing the work while the believer is only the instrument, so grace is sufficient under every circumstance. When work is large and financial responsibilities press, it means seeking the throne of grace with greater earnestness, rising with praise, going to work with prayer, living by the moment and feeling after God, and God meets that clinging by taking the hand and laying it in His own. The words serve as prayer for sanctification and fitness for the Master's use, for pleading a soul's conversion to bring to Him, for being taught by God rather than one's own plans or dependent people, and for watchmen that souls be won as a living church acting with angels by treading sin underfoot. They teach presenting cases trusting His own time and way, leaning on infinite power, baring the soul in secret and putting away defilement to cry for the Comforter, persisting for reform while welcoming correction, wrestling with sincerity, watchfulness and implicit trust unto prosperity according to obedience, serving heartily with energy and shouting victory over darkness, continuing for souls until He looks favorably, and seeking His favor rather than human applause with clear conscience acting prayers.