When we prevail in prayer...

 On Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at GracePointe Church, we are going through the seven portraits of prayer. However, there is another portrait in prayer, perhaps the most famous prayer portrait of all, found in our Daily Audio Bible reading for today.

In Genesis 32 there is a fascinating story about Jacob wrestling with an angel, whom Jacob later identified as a bodily, human manifestation of God.

Jacob was about to encounter someone whom he thought was his mortal enemy: his own brother, Esau. Jacob sent his wives, his children, all of his possessions and was left alone to wrestle with God.

Jacob had been a deceiver. Jacob had also been deceived. However, it was time for Jacob to come home and face his past, but before he could face his past, God showed up so Jacob could face his God in prevailing prayer.

First, notice prevailing prayer can come upon us in an instant. The man/Angel of the Lord came upon Jacob suddenly. Jacob was no stranger to visiting with angels or messengers from God. Look at verse 1 earlier in the chapter. Even before that, he had seen angels going up and down on a literal, spiritual stairway to heaven (see Genesis 28:12 and following verses). But here, in Genesis 32:24, there was no warning that this man/Angel of the Lord was going to come upon him.

We need to be ready and prepared to be in prayer and even wrestle with God about our needs. Luke 21:36 says, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

We also need to be prepared not only in prayer but also in the Word. 2 Timothy 4:1 says to “be instant” to preach the word. Be prepared to patiently encourage, correct, and even rebuke with the right doctrine.

Secondly, we need to not only be prepared, but we need to be persistent in prayer. Jacob wrestled all night in his struggle. Don’t you sometime wish God would just instantly answer us? If we are to be instant in prayer, why can’t He be instant in answering? The truth is God’s delays are not God’s denials, but in fact God’s delays are God’s desires!

God wants us to be persistent in prayer. Look at Luke 18 and the woman who kept coming to the unrighteous judge. How much more does God want us to come to Him, the righteous judge.

Thirdly, God was us to prevail. Have you ever play-wrestled with your kids? Isn’t it funny we don’t see moms doing it as much as dads? I’ve seen some dads who pin their kids down again and again and pretty soon, the kids don’t want to “play wrestle” because they always lose.

But what happens when dads let their kids pin the dads down? Nothing makes the kids squeal with delight than when that happens. And doesn’t that seem like what’s happening with Jacob and his all-night wrestling match? So much so that God changed the name of Jacob, the deceiver, to Israel, the Prevailer! “Prince of God”.

There’s one last lesson to learn from prevailing prayer and that is the price. The Angel of the Lord touched Jacob’s hip and caused him to henceforth walk with the limp. There’s a cost to discipleship. There is a price we pay in prayer. Life’s greatest lessons we learn often cause us to limp as reminder of the price, the sacrifice we make to see God face to face.

Jacob called the place Peniel, the Face of God. 2 Chronicles calls us to seek God’s face. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Psalm 27:8 cries out to us: When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

While Isaiah 59:2 states, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God;

And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear,” Jesus promises us that the pure in heart are blessed because they will see God (Matthew 5:8)

Be prepared to wrestle with God, persistent in prayer, and even “prevail” with God, because He WANTS you to win. But there is a price to pay: the cost of us being pure and separating from our sins.

But don’t “let go” of God in prayer. If we hang on to Him, He’ll bless you with a new name, a new identity, and a testimony of us being forever changed.

12. Praying beyond merely "Our Father..."

We should observe how Jesus prayed.

1) Privately (Luke 11:1; Matthew 6:5–8; 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 9:18)

Jesus prayed “like no one was watching”. He slipped away from crowds, noise, and demands to meet with His Father in secret. What earlier generations called “secret devotions,” we now call “quiet time,” but the principle is unchanged: the most powerful public ministry flows from the most private moments with God. Jesus rose early, withdrew often, and prayed continually; not to escape responsibility, but to embrace intimacy.

    Reflect on this:
If the Son of God needed solitude with the Father, how much more do we? Private prayer is where our souls are recalibrated, our motives purified, and our strength renewed.

2) Personally (Luke 11:2–4; Mark 14:36)
Jesus prayed with deep intimacy; “Our Father… Abba, Father.” The Lord’s Prayer is only 59 words, yet every word is relational. Jesus approached God not as a distant deity but as a loving Father, and He invites us into the same closeness. Prayer is not a performance; it is a child speaking to a Father who delights to listen.

    Reflect on this:
The more personally we know God, the more naturally we pray. Jesus shows us that prayer is not stiff, formal, or mechanical; it is warm, honest, and deeply relational.

3) Persistently (Luke 11:5–8; 18:1–8; Matthew 7:7–11; 15:21–28; 26:41–44)
Jesus taught us to pray with holy stubbornness; to keep knocking, keep asking, keep seeking. Persistence is not about overcoming God’s reluctance but laying hold of His willingness. Jesus Himself prayed repeatedly in Gethsemane, showing that earnest, ongoing prayer is both biblical and necessary.

    Reflect on this:
Persistent prayer shapes us. It stretches our faith, deepens our dependence, and aligns our desires with God’s heart.

4) Purposefully (Matthew 6:7–8; Mark 11:24)
Jesus warned against “vain repetitions”; not repetition itself, but empty, mindless, mechanical praying. He calls us to pray with purpose, clarity, and intention. Every request should be thoughtful, sincere, and rooted in trust.

    Reflect on this:
Purposeful prayer is focused prayer. It is prayer that knows what it is asking and why. Jesus prayed with direction, not drift.

5) Powerfully (Luke 11:9–10; Matthew 21:21–22; John 5:4–7; 14:13–14; 16:23)
Jesus prayed expecting God‑sized answers. “Ask, and it shall be given.” He never treated prayer as a small thing because He never treated God as a small God. His prayers moved mountains, opened blind eyes, raised the dead, and glorified the Father.

    Reflect on this:
We dishonor God when we only pray for what we can accomplish ourselves. Jesus invites us to pray boldly, believing that nothing is impossible with God.

6) Positively (Luke 11:11–13; 7:1; 8:48; Matthew 8:5–13; Mark 11:24)
Jesus prayed with confident expectation. He taught that the Father gives good gifts, not stones or serpents. Faith is not wishful thinking; it is trusting the character of God. Jesus affirmed people who prayed believing, and He calls us to the same posture.

    Reflect on this:

Positive prayer is not naïve optimism; it is confidence rooted in God’s goodness. We pray believing because we know the One we are praying to.

7) Penitently (Matthew 6:17–18; 17:21)
Jesus assumed His followers would fast; “When you fast…” Fasting is the language of humility, repentance, and dependence. It is prayer intensified. Jesus prayed with a heart fully surrendered, modeling the contrition God honors.

    Reflect on this:
Penitent prayer clears the channels of fellowship. It is the posture that says, “Lord, I need You more than anything else.”

8) Purely (Matthew 6:5; 21:13; 23:14; Luke 6:28)
Jesus condemned hypocritical prayer; prayer performed for applause, attention, or spiritual image‑building. God desires sincerity, not showmanship. Jesus prayed with a pure heart, free from pretense, and He calls us to do the same.

    Reflect on this:
Pure prayer is honest prayer. It is prayer without masks, without manipulation, without mixed motives.

9) Publicly (John 11:41–42; 6:11)
Though Jesus prioritized private prayer, He also prayed publicly when it served a purpose; to strengthen faith, to teach truth, to glorify the Father. Public prayer is biblical, powerful, and often encouraging to those who hear it.

    Reflect on this:
Public prayer is not about performance but testimony. It points people to the God who hears and answers.

10) Passionately (Luke 10:21; Hebrews 5:7)
Jesus prayed with emotion; rejoicing in the Spirit, weeping over Jerusalem, crying out in Gethsemane. His prayers were never cold or mechanical. They were alive, heartfelt, and deeply expressive.

    Reflect on this:
Passionate prayer is not about volume but sincerity. It is prayer that engages the whole heart; joy, sorrow, longing, gratitude, and love.

11) Periodically (Mark 1:32–35; 6:46; Luke 6:12–16; Matthew 26:36–46)
Jesus prayed at key moments; before choosing the Twelve, after exhausting ministry days, in grief over John the Baptist, and in agony before the cross. He prayed before, during, and after major seasons of life.

    Reflect on this:
Prayer is not only daily; it is seasonal. Jesus teaches us to pray through transitions, trials, decisions, and defining moments.

12) As a Pattern for Us to Follow (Luke 11:1–2; Matthew 6:9–13)
The disciples saw something so compelling in Jesus’ prayer life that they asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” His pattern; reverence, surrender, dependence, confession, protection, and praise; remains the model for every believer.

    Reflect on this:
Jesus didn’t just teach prayer; He embodied it. His life is the template, His words the guide, His example the standard. We learn to pray by watching Him.