Bible Lesson: Answered Prayer:
Abram's Prayer.
Subject Of Prayer: Prayer For A
Son.
Bible Text:
Genesis 15:1-6 KJV
1 After these
things the word of The Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear
not, Abram: I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great Reward.
2 And Abram
said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and
the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram
said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my
house is mine heir.
4 And, behold,
The Word Of The Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine
heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be
thine heir.
5 And He
brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell
the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So
shall thy seed be.
6 And he
believed in The Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness.
Some times in our walk with The Lord, we may go ahead of The Shepherd,
in our well meaning.
However in such an attempt, we though well meaning or not, are “not,”
in the will of The Lord.
Such was the case with Abram, just several yeas after his vision.
Genesis 16:1-12
KJV (Sarai was 75, and Abram
was 86.)
1 Now Sarai
Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an
Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai
said unto Abram, Behold now, The Lord hath restrained me from
bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain
children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai
Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt
ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to
be his wife.
4 And he went
in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had
conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai
said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy
bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her
eyes: The Lord judge between me and thee.
6 But Abram
said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it
pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from
her face.
7 And The Angel
Of The Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by
the fountain in the way to Shur.
8 And He said,
Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?
And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9 And The Angel
Of The Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself
under her hands.
10 And The
Angel Of The Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed
exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And The
Angel Of The Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and
shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because The
Lord hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he
will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every
man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all
his brethren.
Ishmael, the founder of the Arab nation, and God promised Abram....
Genesis 17:20
KJV
And as for
Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make
him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall
he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
I Timothy 2:14
KJV
And Adam was
not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Abram, dismissed The Lord's promise and listened instead to his wife
Sarai.
And Abram, missed God, and Isaac and Ishmael have been at odds
against each other over the millennia.
Good intentions are never an alternative to obedience.
God was not pleased.
I Samuel 15:22,23 KJV (Samuel's words to Saul.)
22 And Samuel
said, Hath The Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of
The Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken
than the fat of rams.
23 For
rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as
iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected The Word Of The
Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.
God again appears to Abram when he was 99 years old.
Genesis 17:1-8;
15-19 KJV
1 And when
Abram was ninety years old and nine, The Lord appeared to Abram, and
said unto him,
I am The
Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will
make my covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee
exceedingly.
3 And Abram
fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for Me,
behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many
nations.
5 Neither shall
thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for
a father of many nations have I made thee.
6 And I will
make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and
kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will
establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in
their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee,
and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will
give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art
a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession;
and I will be their God.
15 And God said
unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name
Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
16 And I will
bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her,
and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of
her.
17 Then Abraham
fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child
be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that
is ninety years old, bear?
18 And Abraham
said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God
said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt
call his name Isaac: and I will establish My covenant with him for an
everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Genesis 18:9-15
KJV
9 And they said
unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
10 And He said,
I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and,
lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door, which was behind him.
11 Now Abraham
and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with
Sarah after the manner of women.
12 Therefore
Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I
have pleasure, my lord being old also?
13 And The Lord
said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a
surety bear a child, which am old?
14 Is any
thing too hard for The Lord? At the time appointed I will
return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have
a son.
15 Then Sarah
denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And He said, Nay;
but thou didst laugh.
Genesis 21:1-8
KJV
1 And The Lord
visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had
spoken.
2 For Sarah
conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of
which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham
called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to
him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham
circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded
him.
5 And Abraham
was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
6 And Sarah
said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh
with me.
7 And she said,
Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given
children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age (90).
8 And the child
grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day
that Isaac was weaned.
Abram and Sarai, thought it impossible to have a son in their old
age, but they were wrong.
They had valued the promise of God, by their own understanding, and
what a mistake that was.
Psalm 37:23 KJV
The steps of a
good man are ordered by The Lord: and He delighteth in his way.
This verse restated:
God's man, is guided by the ways of The Lord: and The Lord delighteh
in his way.
Psalm 85:12,13
KJV
12 Yea, The
Lord shall give that which is good...
13
Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His
steps.
Psalm 119:133
KJV
Order my steps
in thy Word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
