Push Back Prayer

This is Stu Epperson from the Truth Talk Podcast, connecting current events, pop culture, and theology, and we're so grateful for you that you've chosen the Truth Podcast Network. It's about to start in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it and please share it around with all your friends. Thanks for listening, and thanks for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Encouraging prayer. God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything. On Encouraging Prayer, Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling Prayers for Prodigals and many other books on prayer, provides weekly biblical insight to help you learn to love to pray.

And now, here's James. Well, how fun to be back on Encouraging Prayer. And today on Encouraging Prayer, we're going to be talking about pushback prayer.

And because you've probably never heard of that, like me, we'll start out with an explanation, James. Well, pushback prayer is something you see in a few places in God's Word. My favorite example of all of this is, again, back in the Old Testament, where Jacob wrestles with God and says, I won't let you go unless you bless me. And the amazing thing is, God blesses him. Yeah, it's amazing that God would let Jacob wrestle with him at all. I mean, let alone bless him, but he does. And then God changes his name to Israel because he'd wrestled with God and man in his overcome. But not many of us could ever say that we were in a wrestling match quite like that, James. So what does prayer look like in everyday life like this?

Well, we have to take a step back and look at what's really happening here. God has made promises to Jacob. And, you know, Jacob isn't sure that they're going to happen, because he's about to meet his brother, and he's afraid that his brother's going to kill him. And so Jacob very boldly reminds God of the promises he's made, and that boldness in prayer is something that we're all called to. Hebrews 4 16, right? Come boldly before the throne of grace. But the important thing to realize is that this boldness isn't about selfishness or just wanting our way with God. It's boldness because of his kindness to us, and because we know him, we know his character. And what's so fascinating about this is that God lets Jacob not only wrestle with him, but he also lets him win in that sense of letting him hang on until he gets a blessing. And we have to ask ourselves, why?

Yeah. And I think the obvious answer to that question is that God wants to. So why do you think God wants to? Well, just that question alone, you know, just that observation that God wants us to wrestle.

That's something, isn't it? I mean, I think it's because God loves it when we exercise faith. And again, I'm not talking about a name it and claim it kind of faith that's all about us. This is about him, about his character. And of course, that involves us because our lives are wrapped up in him. But you'll notice that when Jacob talks to God in Genesis 32, he's very humble.

He tells him, you know, I don't deserve anything from you. But still, he says, I won't let you go unless you bless me. And that's like saying, God, you are so good, you have to be faithful to your promises. And I'm not going to give up praying until I see that in my life. And even then, I'm not going to give up praying.

I'm going to praise you for it. And I'm going to pray all the more. I think we've talked about this before, like how Spurgeon said that one of the most powerful prayers you can pray is you promised God. Yeah, yeah, that's right.

You promised. I mean, think about the impact that comment has on a parent who's made a promise. And then think about how a perfect God who loves us, our perfect Father in Heaven must want to respond to his own children when we engage him like that. What we're talking about here is the kind of prayer that doesn't necessarily feel good. I mean, it hurts to wrestle. But that's also how you can get stronger and really learn how to win.

Yeah, that's right. Again, remember what we see is this kind of prayer is in Scripture again and again. And it's real, and it's raw, and it's down to earth. But it's also the kind of prayer that often really gets results. Now, not always, you know, we have to point out that Jesus prayed a kind of a pushback prayer, you know, Father, if it be your will, you know, for this cup to pass for me. And of course, it isn't God's will, but he's still pushing back, right? And what this means is that you're taking God seriously. You're engaging him. You are praying with faith.

And I really like what the Scottish philosopher P.T. Forsythe, who was also a pastor, wrote about this. He said, resist God in the sense of rejecting God, and you will not be able to resist any evil.

You know, it's like pushing back in the wrong way. But resist God in the sense of closing with God. Cling to him with your strength, not your weakness only, with your active and not only your passive faith, and he will give you strength. Cast yourself into his arms, not to be caressed, but to wrestle with him. He loves that holy war. He may be too many for you and lift you from your feet, but it will be to lift you from earth and set you in heavenly places, which are theirs who fight the good fight and lay hold of God as their eternal life. Wow, there's a lot in that, especially that point about coming to God, not only with your weakness, but with your strength. I see that it's coming to God affirming that we are his children and really believing in all that means.

And who doesn't love to wrestle with their dad when they're a little boy? Yeah, exactly. I mean, this is red-blooded prayer that takes God at his word.

But again, remember, it's both bold and humble at the same time. And that's important because if you think about it, Jacob came away from that wrestling match with a lift. All God did was touch his hip, and he was racked from its socket, right?

That's a lot of force and just a touch. Yeah, it really is. Again, this isn't always happy praying. Sometimes it hurts. You may find yourself weeping or shouting or asking why because you're clinging to God, you're hanging on, you're wrestling. But again, this is prayer that comes away with a blessing.

Foresight summed it up this way. Prayer is wrestling with God, and it is better to fall into the hands of God than of man, even than our own. It is a resistance that God loves. It is quite different from the godless, self-willed, defiant resistance. The resistance of love is a quite different thing.

That's what this comes down to, Robbie. The resistance of love, if you will. It is truly interacting with God from the heart, and we can pray this way because we are loved. You know, when you see that circumstance and you wonder, God, what are you up to in this? And, you know, for example, it may be that prodigal that you have prayed for for years and nothing has happened. Engage him with passion.

Go to him and cry out to him. Don't give up. Keep going. So what you're saying is pray hard, right?

Give yourself to it. Yeah, that's right. Again, look at some of the prayers of Abraham and Jacob and Moses and Jesus, and you see each one both praying humbly, but also praying strong prayers. And you see God doing great things as a result.

That's so awesome. Well, let me wrap up things with a prayer that we will all learn to pray like that. So, Jesus, thank you so much for what you put on James's heart on push back. And I pray that you would give us that kind of faith to see your goodness to where we do hang on in wrestling with you for what we know you want in goodness. And we pray that you would give us that kind of faith and that opportunity to engage. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray. This is the Truth Network.