Gen. 12:1, “Now the LORD said unto Abram;” There is no indication here that Abraham was in prayer: However, Abraham must have been a man of prayer, and a man of God before he left Haran. Terah, Abraham’s father was originally on his way to Canaan with his family from Ur of the Chaldeans when he stopped in Haran, dwelt there and died. He had to die for Abraham to become the patriarch of the family and finish leading his family into Canaan. But was God directing Terah with his family first, could he have gotten the call before Abraham? We will never know, but who taught Abraham about the one and only true God and how to address that God and please Him and worship Him and serve Him?  The LORD appears to Abraham or Abram after Terah dies in Haran when Abram is 75 years old Gen. 12:4, “So, Abram departed as the LORD had spoken unto him and Lot went with him;” How or why Abram received and responded to God’s covenant invitation is not revealed but we do know that he had to recognize God’s call! He was 75 when he got his call and Moses was 80 when he got his and we think we are too old to serve God.

He is listed with the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11; he is a God-Pleaser Heb. 11:6 like Enoch, a man of faith, a man of God, and a man of prayer. The LORD gave Abraham a seven part promise in Gen. 12:2-3, “And I will make of thee a great nation; And I will bless thee; And make thy name great; And thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee; And curse him that curses thee; And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” What a precious promise from the LORD, the God of Redemption, to Abraham, the father of the Jewish Nation, and remember we said earlier that a blessing was a prayer and here God promises His prayers, His blessings on Abraham and his seed.

How do we ‘Please God’ like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, etc? Heb. 11:6; by the exercise of our faith! I Cor. 1:21 says, “Preaching the gospel brings salvation.” Isa. 53:10 says, “It pleased the LORD to bruise His Son.” The atonement for our sins pleases God. Isa. 55:10-11 says, “His word going forth pleases Him because it produces life,” preach, teach, pray, give, go, serve but we must leave room for God to work. We must give Him ‘Elbow Room’ like Abraham did, for God to break in and do His work in our lives. Seek the kingdom first, it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom Luke 12:32, but we must be careful where our heart is because that is where our treasure is. “LORD, help me to keep my priorities straight, to focus on You, to seek Your kingdom, to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in heaven, as it is on earth!” And in my heart and life as well!” Psalm 69:30-31 says, “Praise and thanksgiving and a song please the LORD more than an ox and a bull.” Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he even makes his enemies be at peace with him.” “Father, help me, show me the way I should walk and talk, so the meditation of my heart and the words of my mouth will be acceptable and well pleasing to You.” Psalm 19:14

In Genesis chapters 1-11 we have the history of the human race, about 2,000+ years; and beginning in Gen. 12:5 we have His-tory of how the Jewish race began for about the next 400+ years. Meditate on this principle for a moment, “I will bless (pray for) those who bless (pray for) you.” God is referring to the great nation He would make out of the loins of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; Israel, The Jewish People! If we bless them (ba-rak) to kneel, by implication to bless God as an act of adoration or man as a benefit then God promises to bless us. But is we curse them (kaw-lal) to be or make light of, or to bring into contempt, to despise, to lightly esteem. Then God promises to curse (aw-rar) execrate, to bitterly curse, to denounce. According to Webster this word means to, detest utterly, to abhor, to abominate, to call down evil upon. Therefore, God says if we just lightly esteem the ‘Jewish People’ He will utterly and completely detest and hate us. The implications of this principle are earth shattering.

Do you pray for and bless the Jewish People, Israel, God’s Chosen people continually? You do want to be blessed don’t you? You do want to prosper don’t you? Psalm 122:6 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper who love you.” Abraham as we shall see in v. 7 is a man of prayer, but the question is, are you? And do you pray for God’s Chosen people habitually? James 2:23 says, “Abraham, was called a friend of God.” Isa. 41:8 says, “The descendants of Abraham My friend.” (ahav) the Hebrew word for love. The same word is used in II Chron. 20:7 when referring to God giving the land of Israel to, “The seed of Abraham Thy friend (ahav – Thy lover) forever?” So the two times in the Older Testament when God is referring to His friend Abraham He uses the word (ahav – love) to have affection for, to be loved. So how can we be a friend of God’s if we are not a friend of Israel’s? Impossible, Unthinkable, Improbable, Inconceivable!

“Between The Lines”

“Abba, teach us to pray, to bless those around us, to befriend Your chosen people.  Help us to pray continually for the Jewish People, and for the Peace of Jerusalem! May we be like faithful Abraham, faithful in worship, faithful in love, faithful in sacrifice, faithful in prayer, faithful to your Chosen People and faithful to the Bride of Jesus Christ.” In ha Shem Yeshua, we pray. Amen!

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis” (Abraham – Part #4)