Prevailing prayer

If you’ve been in Christian circles for more than a few years, you’ve probably heard this expression a time or two. You may even have encountered people who have had prayer experiences that they have described similarly, or perhaps you have even experienced something similar yourself. But there are also many Christians to whom this concept is foreign, and who may not understand exactly what is meant by this phrase.

Much of the basis for the idea of “prevailing” in prayer comes from the following story, found in Genesis 32:24-28:

24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

27 So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."

28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

When you stop to consider just what this story says, it is truly amazing. Earlier in the chapter, upon hearing that Esau was coming towards him with 400 men, Jacob had cried out to the Lord in prayer. In that prayer Jacob had reminded God that He had promised to bless him. For an entire night, Jacob wrestled with an angelic being, which are described in 2 Peter 2:11 as being “greater in might and power” than men, and yet the angel could not overpower him.

Finally, near the break of dawn, the angel dislocated Jacob’s hip in an attempt to end the contest. But even after having his hip dislocated, Jacob still would not let go of the angel until he spoke some kind of blessing over him. The angel finally consented to Jacob’s request and blessed him by changing his name from Jacob, which means “deceiver” to Israel, which means “He who strives with God.” Notice in verse 26 that the specific reason the angel gave for changing Jacobs name was,

“You have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

This same incident is referred to again in Hosea 12:3, where it declares that Jacob

“Contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed.”

This is the heart of “prevailing prayer” – a fervent contending with God in prayer to do something He has promised – even to the point of being unwilling to accept no for an answer. Many Christians are reluctant to pray this way because they believe it is presumptuous or somehow out of order. But not only did God reward Jacob’s prayer, he commended him for it. Jesus too commended this type of prevailing prayer on several occasions, and declared in Matthew 11:12 that, the kingdom of heaven was entered and enjoyed by “violent men” who would, through prevailing prayer, “take it by force.”

Are you prevailing in prayer and possessing the kingdom of God in your life today?