Wrestling in Prayer

from portagechurch.org

In the middle of the night while Jacob was alone beside the River Jabbok, a man (whom he later learns is God) came and wrestled with him. (Genesis 32:24-32) Jacob was filled with anxiety at the prospect of re-entering his homeland and encountering his estranged twin brother, Esau. Two days earlier, before sending his family and cattle across the river, Jacob was “greatly afraid” and turned to God in an honest and clear prayer in which  he poured out his fears about what Esau might do to him and asked for help (v. 11). Jacob admitted his unworthiness to receive all the blessings he had (v. 10), repeated God’s command to return to the Promised Land (v. 9) and claimed God’s earlier promises to take care of him and give him a family (v. 12).

Now alone, Jacob wrestled with God. Have you ever “wrestled” with God spiritually, in prayer? Perhaps you asked God  “Why do I (or my loved one) have to go through this?” or “Please give me….”  Or  “please, Lord, take this burden/fear/temptation, etc. away!”  Deep, serious praying can involve the body and the emotions. Hosea 12:4 says that Jacob wept while he was wrestling. Believers in Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit to help them when struggling to put their thoughts and feelings into prayers. “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26)

Although Jacob held his ground in the match, God showed his superiority:  with a mere touch He  dislocated Jacob’s hip. (v. 25) Jacob showed his perseverance by not letting go without receiving a blessing. (Earlier in his life (Genesis 25 and 27), Jacob had been so desperate for his father’s blessing that he went so far as to buy the right for it from Esau – for a pot of lentil stew – and to trick his father, Isaac, into giving it.) Jacob did get a blessing from God, but he had a limp from his dislocated hip, a sign that he had been touched by God.

Pray without ceasing.  1 Thessalonians 5:17

Now, let’s talk about the hips.

Today you are going to learn how to keep your hips level. Why? Because doing this can prevent problems with your posture and alignment and prevent pain in your back, hips and legs. So here we go!
 

The pelvis is shapped like a bowl.
from wikipedia.org

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and put your hands on your hips. The slightly pointed bone you feel on each side is part of your pelvis. Remember seeing a skeleton in science class or in a Halloween decoration? Notice that  the pelvis is shaped like a bowl and I want you to imagine that the bowl is full of soup. Now you are going to tilt the "bowl" forward as though soup were going to spill out the front. (You will feel like your tail bone is sticking out behind you.)  Then rock your pelvis backward and pretend soup is spilling out the back. (If you have any pain, stop.) Now we're going to bring your pelvis to the in-between position so it is level. This is neutral, and that is how you want your pelvis to be when you are sitting, standing, exercising, sleeping, etc. (In other words, all the time!)  Practice  rocking your hips forward and back and stopping at “neutral.”   In the future, we will be doing other exercises to help strengthen the muscles around your hips to make it easier to hold this position.
 
Try to be aware of having your hips level when you are standing in line, working in the kitchen and while seated. It will be the starting point for some of the other exercises we will be doing, so it's an important step to master. This is one small exercise that can go a long way in improving your length and strength!