prayer guide: jacob's ladder

This post comes from a prayer gathering I lead at my church. Together we worship, sit in quiet, intercede with Scripture as our guide, and surrender. This could be a guide for your own prayer time — alone or with others.

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We’re reading Genesis 28. But before we do, here’s the scene:

Jacob is on the run from his brother, who he manipulated and stole from. His deceit was … pretty evil. And we don’t get a sense from text that he has any remorse — he’s running purely from fear.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” — Genesis 28:10-13a

God often describes Himself this way: I am the God of [a person you know]. So we start here, in praise, by thinking of the pillars of the faith — near in time and far. This practice ties us to the long history of our faith. It orients us, the way it oriented Jacob.

Some examples from my own prayer:

I praise you, God of Lynn, who taught me it was possible to be in love with you.
I say you are worthy with Elizabeth Elliot and Dorothy Day.
I lift my arms with my dad, who’s praising in the heavenly places.
I praise you, redeemer of the adulterous woman — standing with her in my brokenness at the foot of the cross.
I lift you high, Spirit who lived in Julian of Norwich, for you live in me too — binding us across space and time.

[Your turn. Who are the people, near or far, whose faith has shown you God?]

14 “I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” — Genesis 28:13b-15

This is a good place to remember His promises — the ones He’s whispered specifically to you, the ones He’s given your faith community, the ones written for all of us in the Word. Call them out, especially the ones you’re having trouble believing right now.

[Speak the promises. Stay here as long as you need.]

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” — Genesis 28:16-17

The whole earth is the house of God.

Think of the hard or ordinary places in your life right now — the ones in your family, your neighborhood, your city. Where would you want to suddenly wake up and be able to say, “He was there all along?”