Why Pray for a Guarantee?

“Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Ge 32:11-12 AV)

God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a covenant of nationhood.  There is no reason for Jacob to be concerned of his brother Esua.  The unconditional promise is still in force and it wouldn’t matter if Esau was ten times the nation Jacob was.  Jacob was secure in the promise of God.  Yet, here we find Jacob praying his heart out.  A bit later is when he wrestled all night with the angle and prevailed.  Some might say that Jacob lacked faith.  Fair enough.  He probably did.  But faith is not required for an unconditional promise.  I do not have to have faith that I am secure in Christ for it to be so.  That is, unless I always believed and element of works in salvation.  If a saint has trusted Christ and Christ alone, then the brief times of doubt that may come and go do not change what he had done in his heart.  The promises of God still stand.   He does not need to re-pray the sinner’s plea over and again.  The promise is absolute and cannot be altered.  So, the question appears:  Why pray for a certainty?  Whether Jacob prays or not, Esau is no threat.  Why pray?

There is more to prayer than merely seeking a remedy to a situation.  God answers prayer every time we pray.  It may not the answer we expect or desire, but all events are an answer to prayer.  So, what was it that Jacob really needed?  Did he really need God to honor His word because there was a possibility He would not?  No.  What was it that Jacob really needed?  Sometimes, in fact most times, prayer is just as much for our benefit as it is the LORD’s.  Communication is the foundation of a relationship.  The type of communication will determine the depth of that relationship.  Jacob needed to express his fear.  What is precious in this entire exchange is God’s patience with Jacob.  The LORD could have taken offense at Jacob’s fear.  God took care of him with Laban.  God protected him and grew him for twenty years.  And now, all of a sudden, Jacob thinks it was all for naught?

Sometimes, prayer is working out our own emotional and spiritual baggage by the ministry of the Holy Spirit more so than resolving a particular need.  Jacob didn’t need God to honor His word because there was not other option God was going to take.  It was certain.  I think what happened here is Jacob came to the end of himself.  Yes, he listened to and relied upon God the whole time.  But twenty years of being used and the close encounter he had with Laban brought him to a place of emotional burn-out.  He had come to the end of himself and needed that extra re-assurance that God was indeed going to honor His promise.  He would have regardless of Jacob’s prayer.  But Jacob’s prayer was about Jacob’s personal spiritual condition more than it was about Esau.