As I said earlier, I hesitate moving on too quickly away from this ‘Friend of God’s‘ without drawing all the principles for living we possible can from his ‘Prayer Garden’ for our garden’s. So, ‘Come walk with me’ and let’s see if we can learn anything else from this great Patriarch of Israel.

After Abraham built his altars in Shechem and between Bethel and Ai, Gen. 12:9 says he, “Journeyed, going on still towards the south.” The word, south or Negev means ‘dry’ and he ends up in Egypt. Another word for Egypt as we have seen is, Mizraim and sounds a lot like our word ‘misery.’ Egypt represents the world!  Why is it, we so often leave Bethel, leave the house of God for Mizraim? There are no altars in Egypt, only compromise, only half truths, only lies! Finally Abraham is forced out of Egypt by Pharaoh himself, he did not go willingly and he returns to Bethel, ‘The House of God’ and to the altar he built for his family at first. There is an old saying, “What goes around, comes around.” Many times we have to return to the place where we left God, or left off serving God, or left off growing for God. Jacob’s grandson will do exactly the same thing in Gen. 28 and 35. When we run from God He will always try to bring us back, and usually succeeds, usually! If our big, fat ego doesn’t get in His way. (Ego stands for ‘Edging God Out’)

There is no mention of prayer, altars, sacrifice or worship of God since Abraham left Bethel until he returns, Gen. 13:4, “And there Abraham called on the name of the LORD.” Oh what a sweet reunion that must have been. We should be so thankful that God never gives up on us, NEVER! He is constantly trying to conform us to the image of His Son, and drawing us back to Himself, back to our Bethel, back to our altar, to our place of ‘Prayer-Sacrifice & Worship,’ back to the cross. Abraham needed wisdom at this time to separate from Lot and he gets it at Bethel, at the altar, not in Mizraim. We all need to part friendships in this way, but in order to do that we all need to have our own personal altars and Bethels where we can meet God alone, face to face and offer our prayers, sacrifices and worship, and we need to bring our families to that altar with us.

It was God who drew Abraham back to Bethel from Mizraim, and it was God who made Pharoah throw Abraham out of Egypt, but it was Abraham v.4 who had to call on the name of the LORD at the altar for confession, restoration, repentance, reunion, and fellowship. Oh, my friend have you been or are in Mizraim right now? Return to the first place, return to your first love, return to the LORD God before it’s to late. Abraham called (kara) to call out to, call upon, to cry unto and he identified with, which means to encounter. Abraham not only called but cried unto the LORD, Yehovah, the Self-Existent and Eternal God. He encountered the LORD in prayer! Oh, how we need to continually come back and and cry unto the LORD. Why, because, David wrote in Psalm 65:2, “O Thou Who hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come.”

God is waiting, at Bethel at the house of God, at the altar, at the slaughter place, for all of us to come and to call upon Him, and to encounter Him. Oh, won’t you come back to Him today, right now it’s not too late, it’s never too late. “Oh God, Thank You for waiting, Thank You for drawing us back, Thank You for forcing us back, forgive us, cleanse us, revive us, restore us to our first love!”

“And there he built an altar to the LORD,” Gen. 12:7, nine simple words, and you can almost glance over them in a very nonchalant way without even so much as a thought. Yet in them is the secret and the power of Abraham’s relationship and friendship with God. Abraham obeyed God’s call in Gen. 12:4 and left it all and enters Canaan the ‘Promised Land’ and stops in Shechem, where God appears to him and promises him the land, “And there he built an altar to the LORD.” v.7 From this point on anywhere he goes he must have an altar, and an altar sanctified by prayer, sacrifice and worship. Did you ever notice in the ‘Older Testament’ when it comes to prayer, God speaks to men more then men speak to God. There is a ‘Principle For Living’ there we need to note, ‘We talk to much when we pray.’ Listening, is a lost art in prayer! The words, ‘Silent and Listen’ have exactly the same letters, but you can not listen if you are not silent. How much time do you devote to listening to God during your prayer time? Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know (yada) God.” Be still God says, and ‘Listen to Me.’ Abraham said nothing, when God said, “Sacrifice Isaac!” We need to cultivate listening in our prayer life, prayer is a two-way street not a turnpike, we need to slow down and listen.

A key to remember in our text is that Abraham was a family man and where ever he went he took his family and his possessions. Also he made sure God was in the midst of that family and he did that by building an altar to the LORD. Oh my friend, that is what is needed in our homes today, ‘Family Altars’ a place to ‘Sacrifice, Pray and Worship’ together. A place to meet God as a family. We need to teach our children to call on the name of the LORD and to listen to His voice and know the sound of it. Abraham did more than just build altars, he built ‘Family Altars.’ Amen?          ‘Between The Lines.’

“Oh LORD, please help us to establish and consistently maintain a ‘Family Altar.’ A place of prayer, sacrifice and worship; A place where we can not only call on Your name Father, but seek Your face and wait on You and be ‘Silent & Listen’ to the sound of Your voice as well.” In Yeshua/Jesus name we pray. Amen!

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  (Abraham – Part #5)