Dictionary of Bible Themes: 8672 striving with God

8672 striving with God

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Dictionary of Bible Themes » 8000 The life of the believer » 8600 Prayer and worship of the believer » 8672 striving with God

Striving with God can refer both to the fruitless opposition of the ungodly to God's will and purposes, and to the struggle of the righteous with God, as they seek to find his will and obey it.

The striving of the wicked with God

It is the result of a guilty conscience

Acts 26:14

Striving against God cannot succeed

2 Chronicles 13:12 See also Proverbs 21:30; Isaiah 8:10; Acts 11:17

It leads to the destruction of those who attempt it

Psalm 2:2-5 See also Job 15:20-26,30

Ways in which the wicked strive with God

By resisting the Holy Spirit

Acts 7:51

By arguing with God

Romans 9:20 See also Job 40:2; Isaiah 45:9-11

Through unbelief

Numbers 14:1-4,10-11; Numbers 20:13; Psalm 95:8-9

By attacking God's people

Acts 5:39 To attack God's people is to attempt to attack God himself. See also 1 Samuel 17:45; Isaiah 37:22-25; Acts 9:4-5

Jacob strives with God

Genesis 32:24-28 Jacob's struggle with God represents the conflict within himself between self-will and dependence on God. As “Jacob”, the supplanter, he had overcome Esau and Laban, but God demonstrates his superior power in the wrestling match so that as “Israel” he will be submissive to the divine will. See also Hosea 12:2-5

The striving of the righteous with God

The struggle for righteousness

The discipline of prayer

Colossians 4:12 See also Isaiah 64:7; Luke 22:44

The struggle to understand God's purposes

Exodus 5:22-23 See also Job 10:18; Psalm 73:16; Psalm 88:14-18; Habakkuk 1:2-4,13