From striving to cilinging | Overflow Church Grand Prairie, Tx | Notes
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From striving to cilinging

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“Transformation doesn’t happen in the striving but in the clinging.”

Genesis 32:22-31 (NIV) 22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 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, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." 29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.


Who is the Man?
Christophany Pre-incarnate appearances of Christ.

Why did he show up?
He showed up because Jesus answers.
Genesis 32:9
Jacob prayed....
He showed up because
Jacob was afraid.
He showed up because Jacob was alone.
He showed up to alter Jacob’s identity.

Who intimated?

Who won?
They were wrestling for the same thing!

Was the match necessary?
Change is painful.
Hosea 12:4 (NLT)….He wept and pleaded for a blessing from himself.
“It wasn’t Jacobs ability to fight but His ability to cling that transform him!”

“Transformation doesn’t happen in the striving but in the clinging."

Cling to God in the midst of your struggle!

Luke 11:5-11 (NLT) 5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Psalm 126:5-6
(NLT) 5 Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. 6 They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Prayer is not just about the end product but an enduring process.

The blessing comes…
When Jacob is holding on.
“Transformation doesn’t happen in the striving but in the clinging."
2. When Jacob asks.
3. When Jacob is
genuine with who he is.
4. When
Jacob was seeking to know God,

In the clinging we find…
1. A New Identity
2. A New Walk

Colossians 1:9-13 (NIV) 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.