We are in a window of opportunity. The result of the 2024 election was a miracle. It revealed the mercy of God, even though America deserved judgment. It was the result of prayer and contending for our nation, for America's prophetic destiny.
Now apply that to your own life. Are you contending for your prophetic destiny? If not, you will most likely continue to hit the ceiling of frustration intent on holding you back. But God is calling you to contend for your destiny.
How Esau and Jacob Took Back Their Destiny
Consider Esau and Jacob. Older brother Esau forever walked in the shadow of his younger brother. Jacob took the birthright of the oldest and stole the blessing of the oldest. But both men were given promises of prophetic destiny. However, in order to walk in them, it required they contend for them.
Esau's blessing from his father was his key for breakthrough.
"...But it shall come about when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck." (Genesis 27:40)
With the word "restless" in this verse, these words could be translated to say: When you decide to take dominion or rule, to take back the reigns.
It was a blessing with a requirement. Esau would have to finally get tired of his younger brother's domination, stand up to it, and break it off, which he finally did.
Jacob, on the other hand, was shown his prophetic destiny at the beginning of his journey to seek a wife.
"... I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you." (Genesis 28:15) (Photo via Unsplash)
God was revealing to Jacob who he was. Out in the unknown, God spoke to him of his prophetic destiny. Jacob was not yet that man, but God was giving him a vision of the future of who he was supposed to be. Remember, at that point he was still the deceiver and the supplanter. Yet God saw something else and wanted him to see it. But in order to walk in that promise, Jacob would have to contend for it. He spent years contending for Rachel and for his part of the wealth he helped create for Laban. And in that contending, God was refining.
The hard work of contending forced Jacob to rise to who he could be, not who he was. It was in the journey that he developed the spiritual muscles to walk in his destiny. The same goes for Esau. Esau had to rise above his hatred for his brother, forgive, and take back his own destiny.
Contending for the Blessing
What about you?
Consider the hardships both men walked through. They were the result of their own decisions, and yet God still saw them for who they were created to be, not who they were.
It is the same for us. Whatever mistakes or missteps you have made, it doesn't discount your prophetic destiny. As with Jacob, God has given you a promise to bring you back and give you everything He has promised. But it always comes with a price. We must choose to let go of the weights of the past and contend for it.
Jacob finally came to the place where he was ready to break Laban's yoke off and return to his homeland.
As Jacob neared the place of his past mistakes, fear gripped him. He feared Esau, and rightly so. He sent his family and livestock ahead.
All alone in the camp, God had his full attention. The Bible says, "... a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of its socket. 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.'
(Jacob was contending!)
"'What is your name?' the man asked.
"He replied, 'Jacob.'
"'Your name will no longer be Jacob,' the man told him. 'From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.'" (Genesis 32:24–28 NLT, emphasis added)
Jacob wrestled with God for the blessing God had already promised. Was it because God refused to give it to him, or because there was something in the contending that was required? Obviously, in all of these situations, it was the latter. (Photo via Creative Commons)
When we press in to contend for what has been promised to us, it requires we remove more of self and take on more of Him. It requires faith. It requires effort that changes us... which is the point.
"Then God said to Jacob, 'Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.'" (Genesis 35:1 NLT)
Jacob's response is telling. He required his family to purify themselves. All these years later, he finally got it. He wasn't just returning home, he was returning to God. He wrestled with the angel and contended with God for the blessing and he was forever changed, becoming who he was destined to be all along.
It is the same for us. Remember, it doesn't matter where you have failed, missed it, or sinned. None of that changes who God has called you to be or your prophetic destiny.
So it is with America. We contended in prayer for the opportunity to return America to what it was created to be. Now we have a window of opportunity, by His grace, to continue to contend for it. May we not give up both America's destiny and our own.
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Karen Hardin
Destiny Builders Ministry | City-by-City Prayer Network
Email:Â karen@lightandremnant.org
Websites: www.karenhardin.com | city-by-city.org | destinybuilders.world | awakeoklahoma.com
Karen Hardin is a journalist, activist and revivalist, using her pen and prayer to seek change for our nation to turn it back to God and to truth. Her work has been published in USA Today, Western Journal, Intercessors for America, Charisma, The Elijah List, and more. She is the author of several books, including "Scriptural Prayers for America and Donald Trump," and "Infected: How to Stop the Global Spread of Rage, Deception and Insanity." For additional information, go to awakeoklahoma.com or karenhardin.com.
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