Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Jacob rasslin’ with an angel in Genesis 32. Here is the footnote on the episode from the Douay-Rheims Bible which, I think, clears up the misconceptions about this incident:
This was an angel in human shape, as we learn from Hosea 12: 4. He is called God, ver. 28 and 30, because he represented the person of the Son of God. This wrestling, in which Jacob, assisted by God, was a match for an angel, was so ordered (ver. 28,) that he might learn by this experiment of the divine assistance, that neither Esau, nor any other man, should have power to hurt him.– It was also spiritual, as appeareth by his earnest prayer, urging and at last obtaining the angel’s blessing.
So, two points. The Divine Assistance is EXTREMELY powerful. Rasslin’ an angel to a draw is an unfathomable feat. Second, earnest persistence in prayer is both efficacious and desired by God. Speaking for myself, coming out of a protestant culture of self-reliance to the point of abject pridefulness and being keen to avoid the traditional female stereotypical behavior of talking too much and, most especially, nagging, this episode reminds us that God wants us to both talk to Him and “nag” Him. NOT persistently asking Him for help is bad, prideful business.