Listen

Jacob also asked and said, “Tell me your name.”

But he said, “Why do you ask for my name?” and he blessed Jacob there. Jacob named the place Peniel, “because I’ve seen God face-to-face, and my life has been saved.” The sun rose as Jacob passed Peniel, limping because of his thigh.

Genesis 32:29-31

Think

What is the point of wrestling? Is it to win or is it to leave changed? We might assume that all wrestling matches are about gaining enough ground to win, but for Jacob the stakes were much higher. Jacob needed to come to terms with his past so that he could enter the future God had in store for him as a different version of himself. He left this all-night wrestling match with a new limp because of an injury to his hip, but he also left this wilderness moment with God’s blessing. Jacob could have given up early and left the match tired and bruised… but he kept going and left changed.

Sometimes prayer can be like a wrestling match or athletic event, requiring practice, intention, and repetition. Think about your conversations with God and ask yourself: What keeps me up at night? What is worth fighting for in this world until daybreak? Have I talked to God about these things as I wrestle with how to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God?

Katie Strednak Singer

Pray

Light of the World, thank you for allowing me to carry your light within! On nights when it feels harder to see my way in the world or to see your Way for the world, help me to wrestle with the things that keep me up at night. Keep me going and renew my heart, so I can serve you with imagination, creativity, joy, and love! Amen.

Go

No matter what you are wrestling with today, remember that God goes with you along the way. Together with God, you can make it through hard things!

God has said:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Isaiah 43:2