You pray to the Lord and say, ‘Lord I fear hell.’ Fear is not the best motive, but it is true. You open your heart to the Lord and tell him your inner most concerns. You ask him to help you trust in Christ and his victory over sin, death, and hell.
Jacob prayed for his real problem. He asks very specifically about what he needs. Not, increase my flocks, or give me a happy meeting with mother, but deliver me. You should pray for your greatest need. What is the point of praying for anything other than this? Our biggest need is to have our sins forgiven, to have new life in the soul. We need understanding of God’s way. If you do not know the Lord, come humbly and spell out your need. ‘I need life and conversion. I need a new life. Without this I will perish. Lord change and bless me.’
Jacob came with a promise to claim. It sounds cheeky, but that is how we are to pray. Must presume on the promise. If you come you will be blessed. Remind God, not because he’s forgotten, but because you need to build up your faith. You rest on the promise. Some say, ‘I have tried again and again, and nothing has happened.’ They are not trusting. They keep stopping to feel their spiritual pulse. We need to take refuge in the cleft of the rock. Christ is a great Rock; no one who hides in him is lost.
God had told Jacob to go even though he was frightened. We are sometimes afraid to witness. You may say that is sheer faithlessness, but no it is natural human weakness. Faith is seen by your going on to speak in spite of not wanting to.