Scripture Daily

Context No. 1841 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 32:1-12: in context

1Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim. 3Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. 4He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now. 5I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’” 6The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies. 8He said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.” 9Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’ 10I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. 11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children. 12You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’”

Returning home after twenty years, Jacob must face the brother he had wronged, Esau, and word comes that Esau is coming to meet him with four hundred men. Jacob is greatly afraid and distressed. He takes precautions, dividing his company, and then he prays. God of my father Abraham and Isaac, he begins, recalling God's own command to return and his promise to do him good. I am not worthy of the least of all your mercies, he confesses. Please deliver me from my brother Esau, for I am afraid. And he ends by holding God to his word: you said you would surely do me good.

Jacob's prayer is worth learning from, for it holds together several things that make it honest and strong. It begins in humility: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies you have shown your servant. Jacob, who had schemed and grasped his whole life, comes to God not claiming his merits but confessing that he deserves none of God's kindness, that everything he has is unearned mercy. That is where honest prayer begins, not in our worthiness but in our unworthiness before a merciful God. Then the prayer is honest about fear: deliver me from Esau, for I am afraid. Jacob does not pretend to a courage he does not feel; he names his fear plainly to God. Faith does not require pretending we are unafraid; it means bringing our real fear to God. And then the prayer takes hold of God's promise: you said you would surely do me good. Jacob does not plead his own deserving, which he has just confessed is nothing; he pleads God's own word, holding God to what God himself has promised. This is prayer at its most honest and its strongest: humble about ourselves, honest about our fears, and holding fast to God's promises. There is a model here for our own praying in fear. When we face something we dread, we can come as Jacob came: not claiming to deserve God's help, but confessing our unworthiness and casting ourselves on his mercy; not hiding our fear, but naming it plainly; and not pleading our own merit, but taking hold of God's promises and asking him to be true to his word. Jacob was terrified, and he prayed a humble, honest prayer that held God to his promise; and God met him. When we are afraid, we can pray as Jacob prayed, unworthy, honest, and holding fast to the God who has promised to do us good.

When I face something I dread, can I pray as Jacob prayed, confessing that I am not worthy of the least of God's mercies, naming my fear honestly rather than pretending courage I do not feel, and taking hold of God's promises, pleading not my own merit but his faithfulness to his word?

Sources