WRESTLING WITH GOD

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MEETING AGENDA

  1. OPENING PRAYER – Ask one person to open the meeting in prayer.
  2. GROWTH QUESTIONS – Ask everyone the Growth Questions.
  3. ATTENDANCE – Take attendance through the DG Attendance System.
  4. TODAY’S LESSON – Go over this week’s DG lesson.
  5. GIVING – Encourage everyone to give on the App.
  6. CLOSING PRAYER – Ask for prayer requests and pray.

GROWTH QUESTION #1

Who would like to share a highlight, praise report, or testimony from this week?

GROWTH QUESTION #2

What did you learn from this week’s sermon?

GROWTH QUESTION #3

What was your most important accomplishment this week?

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Genesis 32:22–32 (NLT) 22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. 23 After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions. 24 This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. 25 When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” 28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel,[a]because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” 29 “Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. 30 Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” 31 The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel,[b] and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. 32 (Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.)

Opening QUESTION

What stood out to you from the passage we just read?

TRUTH #1

GOD MEETS US IN OUR STRUGGLE

  • Jacob sends his family ahead and finds himself alone.
  • God didn’t speak to Jacob from a distance. He came close enough to wrestle him.
  • Sometimes God will isolate you to address what He wants to change in you.
  • God did not wrestle Jacob to destroy him but to transform him.
  • The struggle was not physical only. It was spiritual, emotional, and internal:
Jacob was wrestling with his past
His failures
His guilt
His fear
His identity

Psalm 34:18 (NLT) – “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”

  • When we feel the most broken, anxious, or uncertain, God is not distant. He comes close

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

Have you ever gone through a season where you felt like you were wrestling internally? How did God meet you in that season?

TRUTH #2

GOD WANTS TO GIVE US OUR IDENTITY (v. 25–28)

  • The man (God in human form) touches Jacob’s hip, instantly showing who really had the power.
  • The point was not to overpower Jacob but to break Jacob’s self-reliance.
  • Depending on yourself will leave you lost and disappointed. 
  • God asks him: “What is your name?” Not because God didn’t know, but because Jacob needed to confess who he had been
  • “Jacob” means deceiver, heel-grabber, manipulator.
  • God responds: “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, one who struggles with God and overcomes.”

  • KEY TRUTH: God can’t transform you if you’re not willing to be honest with where you are.
  • Before God gives a new name, He asks us to confront our old one.
  • The wrestling was not for blessing, the wrestling was for identity transformation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) – “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

  • God is not just trying to change your situation. He is trying to change YOU. 

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

What “old identity” did God have to break off of you when you came to Christ?

TRUTH #3

THE BLESSING CHANGES HOW YOU WALK
(v. 29–32)

  • Jacob receives the blessing, but he doesn’t walk away the same.
  • The Bible says he walked with a limp for the rest of his life.
  • The limp was not a mark of weakness, it was a mark of encounter.
  • Every true encounter with God leaves a mark.
  • You can always tell who has really wrestled with God by how they walk afterward:
More humble
More dependent on God
Less controlled by pride
More surrendered
More obedient

Hosea 12:4 (NLT) – “He wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.”

  • Jacob walked into his next chapter with a new name, new identity, and new posture.
  • The blessing was not just something he received, it was something he became.
  • The blessing of God is not just about what He gives you but about who He is forming you to be. 

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

In what ways has your “walk” changed since encountering Jesus?

CLOSING QUESTION

What is one thing you learned from today’s lesson that you will apply this week?

GIVING

God gives influence and honor to those who share freely and give generously.

Psalm 112:9 (NLT
They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor. 

Encourage everyone to give their tithes and offerings.

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PRAY

QUESTION #1

Who are you praying for to be saved?

QUESTION #2

Who can you invite to the next meeting?

QUESTION #3

What are your prayer requests?