Preparation

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

PREPARATION

Gen 32:6-12

6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." 7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape." 9 Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'"

NIV

Jacob felt great fear and distress, and he responded by preparing. After considering separating his company into two groups, he made the greatest preparation possible: he prayed. Although Jesus gave us an example of the structure of prayer, Jacob did not have that teaching, so he started by acknowledging that God was the God of Abraham and Isaac, who came to visit them, who spoke with them, who made a covenant with them, and who now had renewed that covenant with him. Our God, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Jacob acknowledged his unworthiness before God's kindness and faithfulness. By God's divine will, God demonstrates his kindness and faithfulness in Jacob's life and in ours. He prayed that God would save him from his brother Esau's hand, for he feared Esau intended evil toward him.  We pray for God to deliver us from evil. Jacob reminded God of his covenant to make him prosper and have so many descendants that they could not be counted. We pray that his will be done in our lives, that he will cause us to prosper, which could mean material prosperity as well as spiritual. Certainly, as we spend time with the Lord through his word, the Spirit, and prayer, we prosper beyond measure. The point we should always remember, as Jacob did, is that God does the work in our lives. He is the one who makes us prosper. Yes, we must make every effort to enter the narrow gate, live in peace and mutual edification, keep the unity of spirit, and add the qualities of goodness, knowledge, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love to our faith. But no matter how much effort we put in, it is insignificant compared to God's work in our lives. Our efforts are useless unless they align with the divine will of the one who gives us all things. Jacob prayed in preparation before meeting Esau. Prayer should always prepare us for life. Let us make our preparation to meet Jesus.