21 Days of Prayer - Day #10 August 17, 2021 Focus - Breakthrough
Have you ever dealt with anything that you just needed a breakthrough.. Getting past a barrier? I think all of us have had a barrier that we needed a breakthrough.
The context for Jacob. Jacob is fearful of his brother Esau, so he’s running to his Uncle Laban. However he is fearful that Laban will take all his possessions. So Jacob returns to his homeland only to have to again encounter Esau. This is the setting of our text.
Genesis 32:23-28 (NIV) 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Jacob wrestled with God! This is so noteworthy. However, even more than a physical wrestling match, it is also a spiritual wrestling match. Have you ever wrestled with God over something in prayer, believing and hoping that God can make things work out.
There are some barriers that won’t go away. You’re going to have to go through it. A breakthrough. We need to push through prayer
Keys to a breakthrough
Push away the distractions
Jacob could not be distracted-.. He needed to push away things so He could hear God clearly. He sent his family and possessions so he would not be distracted and focus on hearing God clearly.
We must be willing to push away the things that could distract us.
Push into God’s presence.
Jacob was persistent in his breakthrough. Jacob needed to push into God’s presence for spiritual momentum. I need to persist. I can’t give up. I need to get rid of the distractions and do all I can to push into His presence.
I need to pray while in the shower, during lunch and while in the car. I need spiritual momentum as I push into God’s presence.
Push through the barriers.
He overcame the struggle. He experienced a breakthrough. When you break something there will always be resistance. When we push through we want the reward but we encounter resistance. The cancer you prayed to be gone, you see the report that it has moved further.
Jacob was touched in his hip, he was wounded while he wrestled, but he still pushed through. You must push through the barriers. He pushed through the agonly, the resistance until he felt the barrier break away.
When you feel resistance, you must push through. Push means pray until something happens.
P.U.S.H. Pray Until Something Happens
If the marriage is not working out, push. If your kids are acting crazy, push. If the medical report isn’t right, push. I am going to pray with persistence. I am going to push until every barrier is broken.
