How to turn fighting into wrestling

Wrestled in Hebrew is ‘abaq which means to wrestle, grapple (get dusty), bedust.

Fighting in Greek is theomachos and the root word is machomai which means, to fight of armed combatants; or those who engage in a hand to hand struggle; of those who engage in a war of words, to quarrel, wrangle, dispute; and of those who contend at law for property and privileges.

The two Scripture that I’m pulling out for definitions are Acts 5:39 and Genesis 32:24-25.

I was watching the movie Exodus: Gods and Kings and there was a scene where Hegep tells Moses, “Let me tell you something about Hebrews. They are a conniving, combative people. Do you know what “Israelite” means in their own language? “He who fights with God.” Moses’ reply, “”He who wrestles with God.” There is a difference.”

This scene stuck with me for two reasons. Firstly because it just resonated with me I knew there was a difference. Secondly because I kept falling asleep during the movie…

Many of us fight with God or against God to be more apt.  We fight against His how He does many things. I’m sure many would like to be on the Ways & Means committee: we want to dictate His ways and means. Fighting against God is what Saul was accused of on the road to Damascus. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” And in Acts 5:38-39 it says,

So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.

Gamaliel‘s spirit must have been impressed and brought to the forefront by what the Apostles were preaching. I think he stepped from fight to wrestling. More on that shortly. There have been several times in my life where I’ve fought God. Mano A Godo. I only fight when I forget He filters. Though I wholeheartedly believe there is an enemy that is here to steal, and to kill, and to destroy I also believe God allows by His wisdom what He could prevent by His power (Graham Cookeism). Things come Father filtered into our life ie. Job. Some may not agree with that and, without balance, can lead to fatalism but with balance we can take what comes at us as “training for reigning.”

When we live out of our soul, when it’s not behind our spirit, we just don’t get things a lot of the time, I don’t get things most of the time. We will continue to fight God in the midst of our trials or create more trials. We become like Israel in the wilderness only looking for His acts, while, like Moses, intimacy is there in the midst where we can know His ways (see Psalm 103:7). We focus on external sights and not internal vision.

Probably the number one question that leads to fighting God is, “Why?” But at the same time this can be where our wrestling match can begin. It all depends on our posture or position. Will we fight God in our soul or wrestle with Him in our spirit?

So what does wrastling with God look like? Yes I said wrastling! Where fighting can consist in long range warfare, wrestling can only happen within a person’s bubble. It’s a lot easier to bob & weave, run, deflect etc. while fighting but in wrestling you are all up in someone else’s space. Wrestling with God kicks up dust…you know the stuff we are made of. It takes the argument out of the soul arena and into the ring of the spirit/Spirit. It’s a place where we struggle to come to grips with things. Get it…coming to grips with things as in grappling during wrastling? Sorry for the lame humor :). But in all joyful seriousness, wrestling with God ends up in submission. Like in UFC fighting a lot of the fighting turns into wrestling and one wins by submissions or tapping out. Like the image above says, “Wrestling with God is a sign of intimacy. You can’t wrestle with someone you’re far away from.”

Now how to transition from fighting to wrestling… It may seem like a hard thing but I’m going to provide one simple act and prayer. It may be too simple for some due to other issues at play but that’s another subject. For several posts now I’ve transitioned a lot from soul work to now spirit work by addressing and speaking to your spirit or someone else’s spirit. Legitimizing, honoring, identifying, teaching our spirits their design, God’s intent, their ability and rightful place within a human being. On how God’s set up a human to be spirit, soul, body and not body, soul, and then spirit.

In order to transition, in my opinion, we must overtly hands over the argument or the “Why?” in our life from soul to spirit. A lot of the times it is hard because or spirits are so bedraggled that it can’t be transitioned. But as we build our spirit and edify our inner man the transition can be faster, smoother, and less painful. I will provide a simple but helpful prayer at the end on how to go about it but I’ll explain it here. We can take the “Why?” and acknowledge the soul’s fight and bring it to our spirit. More than likely our spirit already knows the fighting (see Proverbs 21:9) happening. We can simply hand it over to our spirit so that our spirit, which is directly in touch with God, can wrestling with God for whatever outcome the Father wants. Then we can give the soul a break. A rest. A refreshing.

Here is the prayer. When you see a _____ just input your name or the name of the person you are ministering to and blessing.

Spirit of _____ I call your spirit to attention in the name of the God of all peace. Listening with your spirit to God’s word for you in Acts 5:38-39 which says, “So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” Spirit the soul of ____ is in a fight right now. It is trying to figure out the “Why?” It is fighting with God about _____ (input a current situation where you are finding it hard to trust God about). Spirit, go to the soul and ask for the “Why?” and Soul I bless you with the ability to hand it over to the spirit. Soul I bless you now with rest, faith, love, patience, and the ability for you to not know right now. Let the spirit wrestle with the “Why?” so you can go on forward. Now spirit I bless you with having a direct line and open access to the face of your Father so that you can wrestle with Him in the “Why?” Spirit of _____ this is a perfect opportunity for you to have an intimate face to face, mouth to mouth conversations with your loving Papa. Allow the dust to be kicked up. Allow the grappling and maneuvering to be a dance instead of a struggle. Calmly and purposefully tap out and submit to the Father’s answer or lack thereof. Get all up in His bubble and allow Him to get all up in your bubble. Let there be one glorious, intimate, close-knit bubble. And spirit if you do get an answer or resolution…let the soul in on it if the Father wants you to. Only say what you hear the Father saying and do only what you see the Father doing. I bless you spirit to mirror the Father and reflect His image into the soul and body. I bless you spirit is the name of the God who answers prayers and who is not slack concerning His promises.

I hope and pray this helps and if not then there are several other tools available. If this did bless you please comment, reblog, share on Facebook or Twitter, or like.