Hosea 12:3-6 – In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel and there He spoke with us, even the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is His name. Therefore, return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.

This passage refers to a story we read in Genesis 32:24-32, where Jacob wrestles with God the night before meeting his brother Esau after twenty years apart. They had not parted on good terms. Esau had willingly traded away his birthright as the eldest son. Before their father’s death, Jacob participated in the deception devised by his mother, Rebekah, to steal Esau’s blessing. As far as he knew, Esau’s last thoughts of him were a desire to kill him as soon as their father’s body lay in the grave.

Jacob had sought asylum in his Uncle Laban’s household in Paddan-Aram, where he met and married his two cousins, Rachel and Leah. He fathered eleven sons and became a very wealthy man, owning many flocks, herds, and servants. Now, God has commanded him to return home. In preparation, he sent word to Esau of his pending arrival but received back a worrisome bit of news. Esau is coming to meet him with four hundred men.

Fearing Esau means to harm him, Jacob arranges for separate droves of animals to “greet” Esau along the way, hoping to soften his heart. There is nothing else he can do to prepare for the inevitable meeting except to pray for God’s mercy on the encounter. This is where we find him in the middle of the night, alone before His God. Yet, he’s not alone for long. An angel arrives, and they engage in a wrestling match that continues until the dawn.

I believe God met Jacob in this very unusual way to illustrate what it means to wrestle with God in prayer. Jacob experienced physically what God allows and desires from us spiritually. I found Matthew Henry’s commentary on this passage to be very helpful in understanding exactly what took place and how it informs our prayer life.

Here are a few excerpts from his commentary.

It was a single combat, hand to hand; they had neither of them any seconds. Strong believers must expect divers temptations, and strong ones. We are told by the prophet (Hosea 12:4) how Jacob wrestled: he wept, and made supplication; prayers and tears were his weapons. It was not only a corporal, but a spiritual, wrestling, by the vigorous actings of faith and holy desire; and thus all the spiritual seed of Jacob, that pray in praying, still wrestle with God.

What was the success of the engagement?

• Jacob kept his ground; though the struggle continued long, the angel, prevailed not against him, that is, this discouragement did not shake his faith, nor silence his prayer. It was not in his own strength that he wrestled, nor by his own strength that he prevailed, but in and by strength derived from Heaven. Had the angel done so, Jacob had been crushed, but he will put strength in me; and by that strength Jacob had power over the angel. We cannot prevail with God but in His own strength. It is his Spirit that intercedes in us, and helps our infirmities (Romans 8:26).

• The angel put out Jacob’s thigh, to show him what he could do, and that it was God he was wrestling with, for no man could disjoint his thigh with a touch. This was an evidence of a divine touch indeed, which wounded and healed at the same time. Jacob prevailed, and yet had his thigh put out. Wrestling believers may obtain glorious victories, and yet come off with broken bones; for when they are weak then are they strong, weak in themselves, but strong in Christ (2 Corinthians 12:10).

• Jacob persists in his holy importunity: “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” Whatever becomes of his family and journey, he resolves to make the best he can of this opportunity, and not to lose the advantage of his victory: he does not mean to wrestle all night for nothing, but humbly resolves he will have a blessing, and rather shall all his bones be put out of joint than he will go away without one. In begging this blessing he owns his inferiority, though he seemed to have the upper hand in the struggle; for the less is blessed of the better. Those that would have the blessing of Christ must be in good earnest, and be importunate for it, as those that resolve to have no denial. It is the fervent prayer that is the effectual prayer.

• The angel puts a perpetual mark of honour upon him, by changing his name: “Thou art a brave combatant” (says the angel), “a man of heroic resolution; what is thy name?” “Jacob,” says he, a supplanter; so Jacob signifies: “Well,” says the angel, “be thou never so called any more; henceforth thou shalt be celebrated, not for craft and artful management, but for true valour; thou shalt be called Israel, a prince with God, a name greater than those of the great men of the earth.” He is a prince indeed that is a prince with God, and those are truly honourable that are mighty in prayer.

• He dismisses him with a blessing. Jacob desired to know the angel’s name, that he might, according to his capacity, do him honour. But that request was denied, that he might not be too proud of his conquest, nor think he had the angel at such an advantage as to oblige him to what he pleased. But, instead of telling him his name, he gave him his blessing, which was the thing he wrestled for: He blessed him there, repeated and ratified the blessing formerly given him. Spiritual blessings, which secure our felicity, are better and much more desirable than fine notions which satisfy our curiosity. See how wonderfully God condescends to countenance and crown importunate prayer: those that resolve, though God slay them, yet to trust in him, will, at length, be more than conquerors.

• Jacob gives a new name to the place; he calls it Peniel, the face of God, because there he had seen the appearance of God, and obtained the favour of God. Observe, the name he gives to the place preserves and perpetuates, not the honour of his valour or victory, but only the honour of God’s free grace. He does not say, “In this place I wrestled with God, and prevailed;” but, “In this place I saw God face to face, and my life was preserved;” not, “It was my praise that I came off a conqueror, but it was God’s mercy that I escaped with my life.” It becomes those whom God honours to take shame to themselves, and to admire the condescensions of his grace to them.

What valuable lessons Jacob’s experience teaches us!

We cannot prevail in prayer by our own strength, but only with the help of the Holy Spirit. We need a divine touch that may indeed wound us, but also heals us by making us more dependent on God. God hears our fervent prayers; He invites us to contend with Him and honors those who are unwilling to walk away until we know He has heard our prayers. The blessing of God is better than “fine notions that satisfy our curiosity.” We do not need to have all our questions answered, but rather learn to trust in the favor, presence, and promises of God. God meets us in our prayers—through faith in Christ, we see the face of God and are humbled.

James 5:16 – The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

What do we need to wrestle with God about today? May His Spirit teach us what it means to contend with God, to weep and seek His favor.