Jacob’s experience at Peniel reveals that prayer addresses the foundation of problems (Genesis 32:24-30). In other words, it tackles the root cause. Most times, when attempts are made to solve a problem, the focus is on the peripheral or at the surface level. When you attack the symptoms of a problem but leave its roots, the problem may seem to fizzle out for a moment, only for it to make a powerful, formidable comeback. Prayer is so important that it can cause problems to receive queries from Heaven. After Jacob prayed, the root of his problems received a query from God. Genesis 32:27 says:
“And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.”
As you pray, God will query the foundation of your problems! The foundation of Jacob’s problem was his name. As he prayed, there was a divine shake-up. Some people do not believe that prayer can tackle problems emanating from their ancestry. They believe that since the particular problem affecting every member of their family from one generation to another began several generations ago, nothing can be done about it, especially if the person it all started with is dead. Nothing can be further from the truth! Why is Jesus the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End if He cannot go into the past and undo evil deeds? From today, as you pray, the Lord will query the foundation of your problems.
 
The foundation of a problem quakes when God queries it. The foundation of that nagging problem in your life, family, workplace and ministry receives a divine query today! It begins to quake now! God is a specialist at dealing with roots. In Isaiah 40:24, God declared thus:
“Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.”
When God queries the foundation of a problem, the roots will no longer hold it down. That means the days of that problem are numbered. That long-standing situation that has caused you so much pain, tears and sorrow is receiving a divine query now! Its roots will no longer hold you down. The root of that problem has just lost its grip over your life in Jesus’ Name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.