noble act than when he becomes a priest of prayer for his fellow- men, making intercession to God on their behalf. Abraham learned that judgment was about to fall on the wicked cities because of their great unrighteousness. They had not heeded the many previous warnings. The old patriarch was anxious to see any righteous peo ple spared. You remember that he first asked that the towns be saved if there might be 50 righteous people within the boundaries. Then, he continued to scale his request to the Lord all the way down to ten believers. Unfortu nately not even this many could be found so that tremendous de struction ensued. There is some thing deeply moving and infinitely tender about the intercession of Abraham for the wicked inhabi tants of these terrible cities. We should feel this same way for our fellow-men. Who knows how much we owe to those who have pled to God for our souls? Some one loved you enough to pray for you. Look, too, at the prayer of Jacob. His was one of the most mysteri ous transactions in the entire Bible. You remember how Isaac's son had a midnight wrestling match with an angel. Twenty years earlier he had deceived his dying father and cheated his older bro ther out of the proper blessing. Now, as a rich man, he returns to his father's country and recalls forcefully what he had done to Esau. He receives word that his brother is on the march to meet him. He has 400 armed men who are bent on putting him to death. Jacob is rightly scared to death. He divided his people and his
flocks into two groups, sending them on ahead. His plan was that if Esau attacked one company the other would escape. He prayed that the Lord would deliver him out of the hand of Esau. He also sent messengers with costly pres ents, hoping to placate his brother. Scripture says that Jacob was left alone. We don't need to be fear ful in our solitary moments if we are living close to the Lord. Jacob wrestled until the break ing of the day. He did not seek to shun the battle or to escape the encounter. There were no specta tors but God. As Jacob seemed to get the advantage his mysterious wrestler touched the hollow of his thigh and put it out of joint. Yet, he fought on, gripping the enemy all the more fiercely. Then, with dawn approaching, Jacob suddenly learns that his midnight wrestler is not really an enemy but a friend. This is why he grips him closely and cries out, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." At this point the angel changed his name from Jacob, "the cunning one," to Israel, "a prince with God." This should remind us that what opposes us in life may not really be an enemy but rather a friend in disguise. Do not moan or sorrow over the hard and difficult experi ences of life. In ways that you know not they may make you stronger than you could ever have been otherwise. Make sure that you utter the prayer of struggling Jacob, "I will not let thee go ex cept thou bless me!" One of the most practical illus trations to be given of prayer is found in the important words of Paul, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and sup- Page 49
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