The word Peniel will sound strange to many people. While some may think it is a Latin word, the inhabitants of Akoko in Ondo State will at least have had a glimpse of the word, as there is a bakery that goes by that name in the ancient town. However, the "Peniel" I want to address is from the word of God.
According to a spiritual definition, Peniel Is a secret place where we commune, confabulate, present petitions, lodge complaints, worship, and eulogise the Supreme Being.
Peniel as aforementioned, is said to be a place, which may be physical or abstract.
It is worthy of note that both the former and latter are needed for pious Christians to be victorious.
To corroborate the foregoing, there is an anecdote about a woman who built a gigantic mansion, the mansion is a top-notch building without exaggeration.
Without much ado, the woman has four living rooms inside the mansion. The first three rooms are furnished with luxuries, infact it is worthy of amplifying. While the remaining one has no beauty whatsoever.
She has been cannonizing the last room. She claims she loves it the most, suprisingly, the room has no fan, no air conditioner, no television nor other amenities needed for a living room. This room is furnished with just a table, a chair and the Bible.
Delving into the mysterious room, the woman said, "I fight battles in that last room, and I do conquer without delay".
This short story helped me to beam my searchlight in a leg work, while by happenstance I discovered that Jacob was the originator of the word Peniel in Genesis chapter 32. The biblical meaning of Peniel is "for I have seen God face to face".
If actually we want to see God face to face it must be a place (Peniel)
In Genesis 32 from verse 22, Jacob got up in the middle of the night, took his wives and his eleven children, and everything to another place. Jacob left them there and came back to his own Peniel, because he knew there was a looming battle which he must overcome. While Jacob was spending the night like he did in Bethel, a man fought with Jacob along the line till daybreak; verse 24, when the man saw that he could not win, he inflicted injuries on Jacob. It seemed an endless battle. Later the man said "let go of me! it's almost daylight!
"You can't go until you bless me" Jacob replied.The man sought to know Jacob's name, Jacob provided his name by virtue of nomenclature. In vs 28, the man said "from now on, you shall no longer be Jacob. You will be called Isreal, because you wrestled with God and men and you won".
That day, there was a change of Jacob's name, it became Isreal because he had a warfare place called "Peniel". Many diabolical battles in the lives of people started as a foundation, later metamorphosed into a room, now to a seven-storey building. It will be difficult to break this battle if you don't have a place.
Although it is not recorded in the Bible that Joseph the son of Jacob had a physical Peniel, with spiritual intuition, it is obvious that Joseph had a place. No wonder, "the sun, the moon and the eleven stars bowed before him.
If we make findings about successful Christians, it is either they have a physical place where they pray or the abstract place, as it is pertinent to note that the abstract Peniel means maintaining the daily routine, such as quiet time.
Some devoted believers, wealthy or not, have special altars in their homes where they defeat the evils of the world. Do you have a Peniel? If Jacob did not sojourn in his own Peniel, would he defeat that battle? Would he have his name changed?
If you want to be great in life, go and establish a Peniel, have a secret place were you will commune with God.
Peniel is the place where you will see God face to face, where you will defeat all lineage and ancestral battles, where you enhance your salvation. If you want to win spiritual wars, own a Peniel and you will thank God afterwards.
Pass the message across by asking somebody: "do you have a Peniel?"
God bless you.
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