Wrestling Before God

Take up the whole armor of God . . . praying always . . . —Ephesians 6:13,18

You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because “we are more than conquerors through Him . . .” (Romans 8:37). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— “take up the whole armor of God . . .”

Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . .” (Romans 8:28)— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.

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在神面前摔跤

所以要拿起神所賜的全副軍裝……隨時多方禱告祈求……（弗六13-18）

    你要與攔阻你親近神的東西摔跤，為別人禱告時也要摔跤；但千萬不要在禱告中與神摔跤，那是不合聖經真理的。你若真與神摔跤，勢必一生瘸腿。若神給你一些你不想要的東西，就像雅各一樣抓住神，與他摔跤，你就逼使神折斷你的腿骨。不要做阻擋神路的人，要在神面前摔跤，必在他國度裡見功效。若要我為你代求，而我在基督裡並不完全的話，禱告就無功效；但若我在基督裡完全，禱告就隨時生效。惟有在完全裡禱告才有功效，[所以要拿起神所賜的全副軍裝。 ]

    總要分辨什麼是神的命令，什麼是他的旨意，就是他在我們身上的計劃。我們不能更改神的命令，但必須在他面前與他的旨意摔跤。對神旨意的反應，能幫助我們遵守他的命令。 [萬事都互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處]－－就是忠於神的吩咐和主耶穌恩召人。神的旨意是神兒女顯露出來的途徑。我們不必像水母般軟綿綿地說：[這是神的旨意。 ]我們不是再神面前爭鬥，也不是與神摔跤，乃是與事物摔跤。當心不可在神面前怠惰地閒坐，應光榮而戰，直到抓住了他的能力。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，倘若我有任何剛強的一面，那隻是在你裡面得著的剛強。今天早上，我因想起這話而滿心歡喜－－[你們要靠著主，倚賴他的大能大力作剛強的人。 ]