Wrestling in Prayer

God has been revealing to me, the difference between receiving what most are seeking, which is power from God, and what is even more powerful, how we can receive power with God. In Genesis 32, we have the story of how Jacob wrestled with God all night. At the end, God turned to Jacob and said, "As a prince, you have power with God and with man, and have prevailed!"

If you want to be active rather than passive as a believer, then you need to have power not only from God, but also power with Him! You cannot have real power with men until you first learn to have power with God, hence this wrestling (in persistent prayer). That is why I have so many battles in my life - in the communist prison, cancer twice - so that these last twenty years have been the most effective in my whole life!

The greatest thing in your life is to learn how to pray - and that is one of the hardest things to do. I have been a Christian for over sixty years and I still ask, "Lord, teach me how to pray!"

Wrestling with God is a question of learning how to pray. Any one can 'pray', especially in a crisis. But it is prevailing prayer, learning to pray until we get the answer, which is the hardest lesson. It is a privilege when God places us in extreme circumstances so that we can learn how to wrestle with Him! My life seems to go from one crisis to the next, until I even say to God, "Isn't it time You made my life a little bit easier?" But He has a simple answer, "Without the crisis you will stop learning!" That is why, old as I am, however many years I have been evangelising, I am still saying, "Lord, teach me how to pray!" So thank God for the crisis in your life!

The important thing with prayer is, like Jacob, to prevail with God until He answers!

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