Psalm 145:18 – The Lord is NEAR to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth.

We were all born to be near someone. It’s ingrained in us. How else could you explain the pandemic of cell phones, texting, and instant messaging? We have to know that another human being is just a click away. Our God is the master of communication, after all it was His idea in the first place. He tells us in no uncertain terms that He will be near to us when we call upon Him sincerely and in truth. No monthly plans or costly devices. Prayer is all we need.

I just read in Philip Yancey’s book on Prayer an interesting fact about what we would consider unanswered prayer or “wrestling with God.” Just before Jacob was to meet up with his estranged brother of 20 years, Esau, (remember it was Jacob who conned Esau out of his birthright twice which set this family feud off in the first place) Jacob spent the night in prayer with a “Man” which commentators have referred to as God Himself (Gen. 32:24). God wrestled with Jacob all night before blessing him, touching him physically, and then changing his name from Jacob (trickster) to Israel (contender with God).

Yancey brings up a beautiful point about this account in scripture. At any given moment God could have won by knock out this wrestling match; however, He chose to entangle Himself all night long with Jacob. God wanted to be near to him. Jacob had prayed in desperation knowing that at daybreak he could lose his life to his brother along with the lives of his wives and children. Instead of instantly changing the heart of Esau or granting Jacob’s pleas for reconciliation God chose to answer in a different way. A way that involved nearness, wrestling, dancing, and hand-in-hand combat if you will. When it was all said and done not only was Jacob’s prayers of appeasement and reunion answered, but Jacob had received a blessing, a new confidence in his relationship with God, and a new name which would carve out his destiny.

I have personally been in a wrestling match with God for years over some of the same obstacles. Many of my prayers have been miraculously answered but some have not. These remaining burdens have been the very catalysts which send me straight into the presence of God Almighty. The barriers have become the blessing. The “No’s” have brought me nearer than any “Yes’s” could have. He is near to me always, but strikingly more so when we’re dancing to the tune of Prayer.