{"id":48880,"date":"2021-05-09T12:54:01","date_gmt":"2021-05-09T11:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/?p=48880"},"modified":"2021-05-09T12:54:01","modified_gmt":"2021-05-09T11:54:01","slug":"wrestling-with-god-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wrestling-with-god-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrestling With God (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gabriel Agbo<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Moses<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the children of Israel rebelled against God and the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, God was angry and decided to destroy them.\u00a0 But Moses \u2018wrestled\u2019 with God to change that decision.\u00a0 He even rejected an offer to make out of him a great nation instead of Israel. Yes, an intercessor must always be unselfish. Wrestling With God (2) Moses argued and showed God the reasons why he should not destroy Israel at that point in time.\u00a0 At last, he succeeded in convincing him.\u00a0 Let us read it:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAnd the Lord said to Moses, \u2018How long will these people reject me?\u00a0 Will they ever believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?\u00a0 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague.\u00a0 Then I will make you into a nation far greater and mightier than they are!\u00a0\u00a0\u2018But what will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?\u00a0 Moses pleaded with the Lord.\u00a0 They know very well the power you displayed in rescuing these people from Egypt.\u00a0 They will tell this to the inhabitants of this land, who are well aware that you are with this people.\u00a0 They know, Lord that you have appeared in full view of your people in the pillar of cloud that hovers over them.\u00a0 They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by the day and the pillar of fire by night.\u00a0 Now if you slaughter all these people, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, \u2018The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed it to be.\u00a0 For you said, \u2018The LORD is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Even so he does not leave sin unpunished, but he punishes the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations. Please pardon the sins of this people because of your magnificent, unfailing love, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThen the Lord said, \u2018I will pardon them as you have requested.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>Numbers 14:11-20<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0My God! Excellent and successful intercession! Great Moses! Look at the sweet result. This is a typical \u2018wrestling with God\u2019.\u00a0 Some men are indeed great. Read the above passage over again. Moses did a wonderful job here.\u00a0 He went on, putting forward every reason under the sun why God should change his mind on destroying the people of Israel through a plague for their faithlessness and disobedience. He practically threw God\u2019s words back\u00a0to him. He achieved his aim by making God to rescind that judgement. Great success! Great Moses!\u00a0\u00a0Listen,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God said, \u201cCome now, let us argue this out.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Isaiah 1:18.\u00a0 Yes, he is looking for men and women that will hold him with reasons why he should do what we want him to do.\u00a0 And this is what wrestling with him means. How many of us are ready for this?<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacob<\/span><\/b><\/p>

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another man that taught us that we can actually hold on to God and struggle with him in prayer until we receive what we want from him is Jacob.\u00a0 Jacob is a perfect example of a man wrestling with God. They had the match at midnight prayer.\u00a0 There is no situation that wrestling with God in the midnight cannot change.\u00a0True!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have repeatedly said in this in my book \/ audiobook Power of Midnight Prayer that any man or woman that masters this act of midnight prayer will remain unconquerable throughout their life.\u00a0 This does not in any way mean that challenges of life will not come, sure they will, but you will always be on top of the situation. I say this through personal experiences and also testimonies from others.\u00a0 When Jacob was coming back\u00a0\u00a0from exile and was to meet an angry and well armed brother \u2013 Esau, he was afraid, confused and was trying every trick to escape the rage of a brother who was coming to pay him back for his (Jacob\u2019s) treachery.\u00a0 In that precarious situation, Jacob wrestled with God and changed the entire situation to his favour.\u00a0 Praise God!\u00a0\u00a0Please let\u2019s go through this very interesting account of Jacob\u2019s wrestling with God:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut during the night Jacob got up and sent his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons across the Jabbok River.\u00a0 After they were on the other side, he sent over all his possessions.\u00a0 This left Jacob all alone in the camp and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.\u00a0 When the man saw that he couldn\u2019t win the match, he struck Jacob\u2019s hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket.\u00a0 Then the man said, \u2018let me go, for it is dawn.\u2019 But Jacob panted, \u2018I will not let you go unless you bless me.\u2019 \u2018What is your name?\u2019\u00a0 The man asked, he replied, \u2018Jacob.\u2019\u00a0\u2018Your name will no longer be Jacob,\u2019 the man told him.\u00a0 \u2018It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and man and have won.\u2019 \u2018What is your name? Jacob asked him.\u00a0 \u2018Why do you ask?\u2019 the man replied, then he blessed Jacob there.\u2019 Jacob named the place\u00a0Peniel<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 \u2018Face of God\u2019 for he said, \u2018I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.\u2019\u00a0 The sun rose as he left\u00a0Peniel<\/i>. \u2018Then, in the distance, Jacob saw Esau coming with his four hundred men.\u00a0 Jacob now arranged his family into a column with his two concubines and their children at the front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.\u00a0 Then Jacob went on ahead as he approached his brother, he bowed low seven times before him.\u00a0 Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him affectionately and kissed him.\u00a0 Both of them were in tears.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What a reversal of fate!\u00a0There are things I would like us to note about Jacob\u2019s attitude towards this particular encounter with God.\u00a0 Jacob was persistent; he made sure that the man (God) did not win the match and also refused to let him go without blessing him.\u00a0 And he got his blessings at last.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The sun rose upon Jacob and his fears were immediately tuned into favour.<\/u>\u00a0When we follow this same principle, we are sure to receive the same result.\u00a0 This is exactly what wrestling with God is all about – persisting until you receive your blessing from him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Find the above story in Genesis 32:22-31, 33:1-4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now also look at the way Hosea puts it, \u201cBefore Jacob was born, he struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.\u00a0 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.<\/u>\u00a0 He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.\u00a0 There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him \u2013 the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hosea 12:3-4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That is Jacob for you!\u00a0\u00a0He started wrestling right from the womb. He wrestled with his brother, he fought with God and he also wrestled with the angel and won. And I want to add that he also wrestled with his father-in-law to get his wealth and wife of choice. He understood the game perfectly well. It is called wrestling Match! Yes, that guy was determined right from the womb to make the most of his opportunities. He was determined to see all the promises of God come to pass in his life. So, he wrestled! We will continue. Share this message with others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rev Gabriel Agbo is the author of the books \/ audiobooks:\u00a0Power of Midnight Prayer, Receive Your Healing, Breaking Generational Curses: Claiming Your Freedom, Never Again!, I Shall Not Die, Move Forward, Power of Sacrifice, Prepare for that battle and many others<\/i>. Tel: +2348037113283 E-mail:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>gabrielagbo@yahoo.com<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Website\u00a0<\/span><\/b>www.authorsden.com\/pastorgabrielnagbo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the children of Israel rebelled against God and the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, God was angry and decided to destroy them.\u00a0 But Moses \u2018wrestled\u2019 with God to change that decision.\u00a0 He even rejected an offer to make out of him a great nation instead of Israel. Yes, an intercessor must always be unselfish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,17],"tags":[8549],"coauthors":[2391],"class_list":["post-48880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-faith","category-news","tag-wrestling-with-god"],"yoast_head":"\nWrestling With God (2) - National Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When the children of Israel rebelled against God and the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, God was ang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wrestling-with-god-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wrestling With God (2) - 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