The Prayer of Faith, Part 2

I went to bed last night still thinking about the fact that God asked Abraham to do something so terrible as sacrificing Isaac. But my thoughts didn’t run along the lines of “How could God ask him to do such a thing?” Instead, they went more like: “Do we trust God like that? Do we even know God as well as Abraham did? Do we really believe that God is Who He is? Do we believe that He cares about us, actually loves us, in the way that Abraham did?” Maybe it’s just me, but understanding who God is, is a huge thing to grasp.

I want to get to the place where Abraham was...where he trusted God...without question. And God blessed him.

Understanding Abraham’s faith is important to us for that kind of faith is what is needed in prayer. How can it not be when prayer is:

- talking to God who we believe cares about us, is actively listening to every word, and is not only able (having power and authority to do so) but also willing to grant our requests, at least when it lines up with what is right and true as God Himself is.

There is an interesting verse or two in Genesis 18:20-21 that confirms that this is what prayer is about. We all know the history of Sodom and Gomorrah and what happened to them. How Abraham’s nephew Lot, and his family, were delivered from there by two angels before the cities were destroyed. But, how often do we recall this precursor to that story:

“And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.”

There was a “cry” going out into the heavens, originating in Sodom and Gomorrah, but reaching God’s ear. That cry was telling God of “grievous” things happening in the cities. And there was God saying that He would go down to that place to confirm whether all that the cry was saying was true. And if it was not true, He would know after His visit.

The “cry” could have come only from Abraham’s nephew Lot, and possibly his family. He and his family were the only ones delivered from there, four in all. Not even ten found righteous there, for if there had been ten, God had promised Abraham he would not destroy them all. But ten righteous persons were not to be found. There is a good possibility there were not even children there either, because the men and women of the cities were bent on homosexuality, and violently so, it seems; homosexuality precluding the birthing of children.

But do we pay attention to what happened, as described in those two verses above?

God heard, God listened, God came to verify the truth of the cry, and then God took action to bring remedy to the situation.

Why should any of this be different for us who are also chosen by God and called according to His name? We are God’s creation, His kingdom. He cares about us. He cares when things are not going right for us. He hears our cries for justice. And, after verifying that we are not misguided in our prayers (out of a heart full of hate), He takes care of us. He is The Good Judge and His verdicts are always carried out in Truth and Righteousness, even when He has to correct our own evil hearts.

And in all of that He actually loves us….LOVES US! How do we know this?

After God halted Abraham’s knife from descending on Isaac, He provided a ram, caught in the thicket by his horns, for Abraham to use as a substitute sacrifice instead of Isaac. Abraham named the place Jehovah-jireh, which means: “God will provide”. God loved Abraham. God loved Isaac (who, by the way, once he began to understand that he was to be the sacrifice ordered by God, submitted willingly out of his own obedience to God).

And so, rather than having Abraham carry through with the act, God provided a ram, as was always His intention to do. God Himself providing for His own. Abraham and Isaac being a prophetic glimpse into what God would provide to us through His own Son, Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, Who willingly laid down His own life in obedience to God, for the blessing that would come to so many by this one action. Just as so many were blessed by Abraham’s action.

It’s important to note that God already knew how Abraham would respond, and that there was another purpose for this testing (other than the prophetic foretelling of the death of the Savior). How do we know this?

After Abraham responded obediently, God told him that because of his obedience, because Abraham so blessed God, God would in turn bless Him by multiplying his seed, and that “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:18)

But God had already pronounced that this would happen, when He visited Abraham and Sarah, just before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah:

“And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?” (Genesis 18:17-18)

Yet, God said it was specifically because Abraham obeyed His voice that “all the nations of the earth” would be blessed. Which would only be promised once Abraham was obedient, which God knew he would be. So why did God test Abraham if He already knew his heart?

I believe God tests us, as He did Abraham, to show US our hearts. He already knows our hearts, even as He did Abraham’s. He’s testing us to prove TO US (who are so quick to judge others, but not often ourselves) whether or not we are just talk, or whether we are REAL in our faith. He showed Abraham that he was REAL in his faith, and that his faithfulness blessed God, and that, in turn, God would bless him and in fact, would bless all the nations of the earth, just because of this one man’s obedience.

If one man’s obedience can bring so much blessing to so many, it makes me wonder how many people are affected by the evil brought about by one man’s disobedience? It’s something to consider for those who question why God destroyed ALL of Sodom and Gomorrah.

All of this brings us back to the prayer of faith. For if we take the kind of faith (trust) that Abraham displayed towards his God, and we make use of that faith in prayer, not only for ourselves, but for all those around us...how many lives can be affected by that prayer? For how many can justice prevail because of our cries in prayer to God on their behalf?

How many lives were affected because of 84 years of prayer and fasting by a widow of REAL faith living day and night in the temple named Anna?

Are we beginning to see the value and purpose of prayer..just a little?