If you have your Bibles with you, can you please turn with me to Genesis chapter 32? That's Genesis chapter 32. For our main focus this morning, we're going to be looking at verses 9 to 12, looking at Jacob's prayer, the prayer pattern of this patriarch. However, just to get a little bit of context, we'll be starting off our reading from verse three all the way through to verse 12. So that's Genesis chapter 32, verse three to 12. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he demanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau. Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now. And I have oxen and asses, flocks, and men's servants, and women's servants, and I have sent to tell my lord that I might find grace in thy sight. And the messengers returned to Jacob saying, we came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and 400 men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels into two bands, and said, if Esau come to the one company and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast shown unto thy servant. For with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. 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." Do you ever get those moments where You're about to do something, but just as you're about to do it, you stop and think to yourself, how do I do this again? Let me give you an example of that. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Moore and his wife went away to Northern Ireland, leaving David and I home alone. And likewise, they've left us home alone again this time around because we are very trustworthy students. We like to look after his stuff. And please tell him that. Please recommend us to Pastor Moore so that he could be gracious to us. Anyway, last time round, before they left, I asked Pastor Moore how to use this contraption, this piece of machinery called an electric can opener. You know, just in case I ever needed to use it. And so what he does is he shows me, you lift this thing up, you place the can under there, and you place it down. Hopefully it sticks up because of the magnet, and then it does its job. He shows me how to do it. They go off, and a few days later, I find myself in the kitchen holding canned luncheon meat. And guess what? I'm standing there, staring this piece of machinery. And I'm like, wow. How do I do this again? I've completely forgotten. The point I'm trying to make is that even the smallest of things that we're used to doing, the smallest of things that we're accustomed to, can become alien to us from time to time. And, you know, the very same thing can be said about prayer. We can have those blank moments where we forget how to pray, we forget to do things. And, you know, as a Christian, prayer should be a part of our everyday life. So it should be something that we are used to doing. It's something that we should know how to do. However, if you're anything like me, You'll come to these times where you'll, you know, forget how to pray. You're on your knees or you're sat down somewhere, your head is bowed, your eyes are closed, your hands are clasped, and then nothing. You've got no words to say. It's as if you've forgotten how to pray. And from what we've read here in Genesis 32, we find the account of Jacob praying to God. This morning, as we examine the prayer pattern of this patriarch, found in verses 9 to 12, I hope that we can learn from Jacob's example in prayer, and that we can use his example to better help us in our own prayer, so that we can make better use of the privilege of prayer. I hope that through this, we can be reminded of how to pray, especially in those times when we've forgotten how to pray. And overall, I pray, I hope that this passage, what we do this morning, this study, would help us to pray and to take prayer seriously. And so here's Jacob. He's on his way back to Canaan with his family and all his goods, just as God has commanded him. And on his way, he decides to send his messengers to his brother, Esau. And he wanted to do that as a way of trying to make peace with him. And then Jacob finds himself in this predicament. When his servants return, he finds out that his brother Esau is on his way to meet him. But not only that, he is on his way to meet him accompanied by a band of 400 men. So what does he do? He comes up with a contingency plan. He divides his people, his possessions into two, and then he turns to God in prayer. This morning, we'll examine his prayer and we'll ask ourselves this question, what can Jacob's prayer teach us and how can it help us in our very own prayers? So this morning, I'd like to consider four things. And the first thing I wanna consider is found in verse nine of chapter 32, and that is that Jacob prayed with praise. It says here, and Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which said unto me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee. You know, it's often said that we praise God for who He is, and that's exactly what Jacob is doing here. He is praising God for who He is. He is, in his prayer, saying, claiming who God is. He begins his prayer in praise of God. We see here that Jacob called upon the God of Abraham and of Isaac, the God of his predecessors, the same God who said unto him, Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee. Jacob called upon God, and he called upon Him in the way that he did. By doing that, he was reminded that the God he was praying to is the covenant-keeping God. As Jacob prayed and claimed God's character, he was reminded that God was a God of promises. And not only was he the God of promises, but he is the God who keeps those promises. He remembered the covenant that God has made with his father Abraham, the covenant that he made with his father Isaac, and he is the very same God that has said unto him, return to thy country. Jacob recognized that God was a covenant-keeping God. And in recognizing this aspect of God's character, Jacob praised God. Jacob also realized that he was praying to the sovereign God, the one who was in control. He acknowledges God's sovereignty by the way he said in verse 9, the Lord which said unto me, the Lord which said unto me. Jacob at that point realized that God was in control because it was God who commanded him to go God commands and Jacob obeys. Jacob knew that he was where he was because of God. And thus, Jacob realized that God was in control. And so, from this verse, we learn that Jacob prayed, praising God for who he is. And what can we learn about God from this passage? We learn that God is a covenant-keeping God and the sovereign God who is worthy of praise. The Lord, which said unto me, return. Jacob was acting in obedience to God, who was in control. And although he was acting in obedience, he found himself in trouble. You know, and oftentimes, we'll find ourselves in trouble as well. We can live our lives, our Christian lives, obedient to God, and yet in our obedience, God will allow, from time to time, storms in our lives. God allows us to go through difficult times. However, in his difficult time, Jacob did something. Although Jacob was in trouble, he praised God. And I wonder, do we do the same? Whenever we have come into trials, whenever we have come into troubles, do we, like Jacob, turn to God and praise Him? Do we pray according to the character of God? And so Jacob opened his prayer in praise. He praised God for who he is. And in other words, that's pretty much saying he praised God according to the character of God, which meant that Jacob knew the character of God. Jacob used the character of God in his prayer. And what a valuable lesson to learn. Do we do that? Do we? pray in praise of God for who He is, do we praise and admire Him for His character? Which naturally leads to this question, how well do we know God's character? How well do we know God? You know, Jacob didn't have the Bible like we do. We have, in this day and age, the Holy Bible written for us, preserved for us, the whole revelation of God, whereas Jacob had what? He had the promise of God. He had the promise of God's Word. And yet, why can we never seem to praise God the way that Jacob did? When was the last time that we used our knowledge of God in our prayers. When was the last time we looked at the Bible, learned about God's character from the Bible, and used that character of God in our prayers? You know, the Bible says that God is a God who provides. When was the last time in our prayer we claimed, God, we know that you are the provider God, and in light of that, we trust that you will provide? When was the last time we prayed like that? From this passage, from this verse alone, Jacob prayed in praise. And from that, we can learn that it's important to praise God. And it's important that we praise God for knowing who He is. It's important to know the character of God. By studying and knowing God's character, not only do we find out more about Him, but we are able to pray more effectively. Our prayer and our praise becomes more effective when we realize who it is we're praying to. And so the next point I want to make is that Jacob prayed with penitence, and that's found in Genesis 32, verse 10, when he says, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shown unto thy servant. For with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. See, the first thing that Jacob did in his prayer was that he saw God for who he is, and he praised him. which led to the second thing. He saw himself for the wretch that he was, and he humbled himself before God, saying, I am not worthy. Jacob deems himself unworthy of how God has dealt with him. I mean, listen to his words when he says, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant. Jacob knows that it was God who has blessed him. And Jacob also realizes that he is undeserving of even the smallest of those blessings. I mean, surely this reflects the words of Psalm 8, what is man that thou art mindful of him? I mean, who is Jacob that the creator God, the possessor of all things in heaven and earth would take notice of him, let alone bless him? Likewise, who are we? Who are we that God would love us, would choose to send his son to die on the cross for us? You know, found in this verse, verse 10, we see that Jacob is praying, and in his prayer, there is an essence of gratitude as well as distress, and it's happening all at once. And that's found in the part where it says, for with my staff, I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become to bands. Jacob prayed with penitence. There was, on the one hand, gratitude, and on the other, there was distress. And I'll explain what I mean by that. We see Jacob's gratitude in that he saw that everything he had was because God had provided for him, and God has blessed him. He acknowledged that he has a big family. He has a lot of material goods. He has all of these things, all because God blessed him. It was God who provided for him. You know what he had so much that everything he had could comfortably be split into two. But that's just it. Everything he had did become divided. It was split into two. And there is the distress in it all. You know, it's a mixture of gratitude and distress. In gratitude, Jacob sees that everything he had was from God, yet in distress, he sees everything torn apart. And with it, there comes his penitence, his repentance. All along, Jacob has been living his life trusting in himself. You know, let's take a look at the life story of Jacob. What did he do? Well, there's two of brothers. There's Jacob and Esau, they're twins. And Jacob was the elder, I mean, the younger Esau being the elder. And so, naturally, Esau had the birthright. However, Jacob claimed that birthright from himself. What else did he do? He deceived his father Isaac into giving him the blessings that was meant for Esau. And so, he fled and he endured working for Laban. All throughout his life, up to this point, Jacob has been living, making it all about himself. He was relying on his own capabilities. He was saying, I'm the one who took the birthright from my brother. I'm the one who got the blessings from my father. I am the one who endured working for my uncle. He was saying, it's all about me. However, at this point in time, in verse 10, Jacob sees the futility of trusting in himself. And as he prays this prayer, you can kind of hear the bittersweet tone in the prayer. It's riddled with gratitude, with brokenness. And in essence, what Jacob was saying in verse 10 here is, God, I'm not worthy of your blessings in my life, such as my family and my riches. You've given me all these things, however, O Lord God, in my care these things which you've given me has become divided. In my care these things have become divided. See, the words of verse 10 paints the picture of a penitent patriarch. Jacob saw his blessings, and he admitted that those blessings were undeserved. He recognized that those blessings were from God, and that in sorrow he sees that he has mishandled those blessings. Now, don't you think that at this point, Jacob was regretting the actions which led to this situation? Don't you think he was sorry for the wrong things that he had done, which led to the circumstances that he was surrounded in? This man, Jacob, prayed with a penitent heart. He humbly came before God. And that is such a beautiful way to approach the throne of grace. And I wonder, do we do the same? Do we have this same attitude of humbleness and humility whenever we pray? Or are we more like the Pharisee that Jesus spoke of in Luke 18? There was the Pharisee and then there was the tax collector. Are we more like that Pharisee? the Pharisee who prayed with pride, who boasted of all his works as though they were tokens of earning God's favor. And so the question we want to ask ourselves is, are we praying like that Pharisee? When I pray, Do I pray demanding of God? Do I pray that God would grant my request as though I have merited His blessings in my life? Am I so self-righteous as to think that I can approach the Almighty God, who is holy, without showing Him fear and reverence that He is deserving of? You know, I'm not saying that it's wrong to ask God for things. I'm not saying that it's wrong to ask God to intervene in our situations. In fact, the Bible exhorts us to place our cares before God, to pray for all things. You know, in Ephesians 6, verse 18, it says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And likewise, Philippians 4, 6 says, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. The point I'm trying to make is that do we only approach God whenever we are in need of something? And so let's ask ourselves, honestly, let's ask ourselves this question. When was the last time we approached God in humbleness and in humility, not asking Him for anything, but simply to praise Him, to worship Him? to confess to Him, acknowledging who He is. When was the last time we put ourselves in our prayer closets, not asking God for anything, but just simply praising Him because He is worthy of praise, worshiping Him because He is a God worthy of worship, and confessing to Him because we are a wretched people loved by an almighty God? When was the last time we did that? Are we like that Pharisee who demands of God, saying, God, this is my prayer request, please answer it, without showing him the respect that he is worthy of? And so the third thing that I want to consider this morning is that Jacob prayed with a petition. and that's found in Genesis 2, verse 11. His petition is, 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. Yes, Jacob did pray with a petition. He did pray with a request. He made that request known to God. However, it's important to note something here. Jacob did not put his request first. God came first. Jacob didn't say, God, save me, and then he said, God, you are an almighty God. He said, no, God, you are the God of my father, Abraham, the God of my father, Isaac. He praised God. God came first, and his request came later. Again, reiterating what I've already said, there's nothing wrong with asking of God, but we should also be mindful that when we ask of God, God still comes first. He always comes first. Prayer is not about us, it's about God. And we would do well to remember that. And so, Jacob here in verse 11 prayed to God to deliver him from the hand of his brother Esau. Why was that? See, the last time that Jacob saw his brother, they weren't on good terms. In fact, it was because of Esau's fury that Jacob left Canaan. He fled from his brother to save his own skin. And that's found in Genesis 27, verse 41. And it says there, and Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, "'The days of mourning for my father are at hand. "'Then will I slay my brother Jacob.'" So things weren't great between the two brothers. And Jacob was very much aware of it. Jacob remembered that Esau was out for blood. Esau wanted to kill him. And it just so happens that Esau was now on his way to meet Jacob accompanied by 400 men. I mean, it's not looking so well for Jacob, is it? You can understand why he's panicking at this moment. And so what does Jacob do in his moment of panic? He turns to God in prayer, and he makes his request known unto God. He prays to be delivered from the hand of his brother Esau. And not only does he say, God, please deliver me, he admits the very reason why he's asking for that prayer. He gives a reason as to why, and he says, for I fear him. Jacob didn't hide the fact that he was afraid of Esau. He made everything known before God. He made himself bare before God. He admitted that he was afraid. And likewise, you know, when we pray, we don't have to hide anything from God. When we pray, we are exhorted to cast all of our cares upon Him, because He cares for us. We have no reason to hide anything from God in our prayers. We can lay everything down before Him. And besides, God is an all-knowing God. He's omniscient. God already knows our situations, and He already knows what we are in need of, even before we're even aware of it. God knows our situations, God knows our lives, God knows every little bit about us, and He knows the burdens of our hearts. And likewise, God knew the things that were going on in Jacob's life. God knew that Jacob was in trouble. God knew that Jacob was afraid of his brother. It wasn't like Jacob was praying, God, please save me from my brother because I'm afraid of him. And God looks at Jacob and says, you're afraid of your brother? Why? And then he looks over a couple of miles, a different distance and says, oh, your brother's coming for you. He's gonna kill you. Man, it doesn't happen like that. God knew what was going on. God knew that Jacob was afraid. And so the reason why Jacob presented his prayer, the reason why he presented his petition, wasn't to tell God something that God wasn't already aware of, because God was well aware of Jacob's situation. As a matter of fact, the reason why Jacob presented his petition was so that he can show that he has surrendered to the mercy of God. He laid his all before God. He said, God, you know my situation, you know where I am in life, and still I present all these things to you to show that I am surrendered to you. I lay it all before you. Jacob trusted God with his situation, and he trusted God with the outcome. And likewise, when we pray, we should do the same. When we pray and when we present our prayer requests before God, we ought to cast all our cares upon Him. We're not supposed to pray and hold part of that prayer back saying, God, please help me with this financial situation. And then next thing you know, you're doing everything you can to earn your own money. I mean, it is good to work. However, when you cast your cares upon God, be sure to cast all of it upon Him, trusting Him for the outcome. because he already knows your situation. Jacob threw himself in the mercies of God, and likewise, we ought to throw ourselves also in the mercy of God, waiting upon him for the outcome. And so here we learn that Jacob presented his petition in humility, and so should we. Now finally, Jacob concluded his communion with God by way of affirming a promise. And that's found in Genesis 32, verse 12. It says here, 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. Jacob prayed, affirming a promise. He concludes his prayer in faith and confidence in God. He recognizes that he ought to be confident in God because of God's promises to him. In other words, Jacob trusted that God would answer his prayer, not because Jacob was righteous, not because of anything that Jacob has done, but because of who God is, because of the promise that he has already made to Jacob. In essence, what Jacob was saying here in verse 12 was, God, you've promised to do me good. You've promised to multiply my family. You are the covenant-keeping God who is faithful. And in light of that, I know your promise will come to pass. I trust that you will see me through this situation. Jacob knew God's promise to him, and he used it in his prayer. And by using it in his prayer, he was able to be confident and to put his trust in the Lord. God said that he would be good, that he would do good to Jacob and make his descendants numerous. I mean, how could that happen? How could Jacob's descendants become numerous? How would God be doing good unto Jacob if Jacob was harmed, if his family was killed? If Jacob had been slain by Esau, if his family was ransacked, then God's promise would not come to pass. However, Jacob knew that God can be trusted because God is faithful. And so he remembered God's promise and he stood firm upon that promise. And he affirmed that very same promise in his prayer. Jacob was putting his confidence in God. And how often do we pray in light of God's promises for us? You know, as Christians, God has promised us many things in the New Testament. But how well do we know those promises? And how well do we use those promises? Do we claim those promises in our lives, in our prayers, when we turn to God? I trust you all know the hymn, Standing on the Promises, right? ♪ Standing on the promises of Christ my King. ♪ Well, how can we stand upon promises that we don't know? We can't. So this morning, I'd like to encourage you all, and myself also, to get to know the promises of God. And not just to know them, but to be reminded that these promises are made by a faithful, promise-keeping God. And in light of that, When we study these promises, when we pray out these promises, let's remember that these promises, no matter how hard our situations, no matter how bitter things are, these promises will come to pass because of who God is. Not because of us, but because of who God is. And so we ought to be confidently waiting upon the God of promises. This morning, if you're listening and you're not a Christian, In His Word, God has promised to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness if you confess your sins before Him. The Bible also says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So if you're not a Christian, why not follow in the pattern of Jacob and acknowledge God for who He is, the Almighty God, the Creator God, and humble yourself, knowing that you stand before God as sinner. You've broken His laws, you've broken His commandments, and then repent. Ask Him to forgive you, and ask Him to save you, and claim the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ, who died, who was buried, and resurrected, and ascended, and is now at the right hand of the Father, all so that He could save us from our sins. And so, from this passage right here, Genesis 32, verses 9 to 12, we see the prayer pattern of a patriarch. And what an awesome prayer pattern it is. From verse 9, we see that Jacob prayed with praise. In verse 10, we see that he prayed with penitence. In verse 11, he prayed presenting his petition. And finally, in verse 12, he prayed in confidence by affirming a promise. You know, I think we can all agree that although this prayer that Jacob had wasn't in length, it was certainly a prayer of strength. And likewise, let's be encouraged to do the same. Whenever we are in those situations when we've forgotten how to pray, let's remember this prayer pattern, and let's put God first in our prayers. Let's praise Him because He is worthy of praise. Let's worship Him because He is worthy of worship. Let's humble ourselves before Him. I mean, how dare we come before God all proud and arrogant like we can? I mean, it would be improper if we, the common folk, would do that to Her Majesty the Queen. We couldn't approach Her casually, we have to approach her through the proper means. And likewise, let's humble ourselves and approach God. through the proper means. Let's humble ourselves before the Lord God Almighty. And then, with faith and sincerity, let's present our prayers, our petitions to Him, knowing that He is a faithful God and that He will answer these prayers according to His will. And then let's learn His promises. And in learning His promises, let's be confident, knowing that God is faithful to keep His promises. May we be encouraged to better utilize the privilege of prayer. And may God bless these thoughts to our hearts. Let's bow our heads in prayer.