LESSONS ON PRAYER …

Abraham’s prayer legacy is perhaps best illustrated in the way he sought for the survival of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. You remember. The Lord plainly told Abraham what was about to happen, about the coming judgment upon sin. Then the Bible says:

“And the men (angels) turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. And Abraham drew near, and said (praying), Wilt thou (Lord) also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.” Genesis 18:22-33

This prayer, one of the fullest in the Old Testament, is “conversational!” Truly Abraham pleads with God, asks God for “Mercy” upon Sodom, for the sake of a few righteous people. And God correspondingly answers (communes) with his interceding servant!

So learn this Lesson. Prayer can (and perhaps even should) be two-way! Though now God does not talk to us audibly … He yet does through His Word. And through the Holy Spirit!

Prayer too can be persistent! Almost demanding! The “numbers” (safety quota for Sodom) began at 50. But soon dwindled to 10. Because of Abraham’s importunity. He wouldn’t quit! Jesus shared at least two parables on this same theme … keep on asking!

Also don’t you see that this prayer is unselfish? Abraham asked for NOTHING for himself! Intercession implies praying for others! No wonder God responds so warmly! Remember Job 42:10. “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Do YOU pray for your loved ones, for others, daily?

Wow!

Notice the humility in the prayer as well. Abraham is lowly, God is exalted! Genesis 18:27-28 … “And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.” Just “dust and ashes,” how humble!

Then too, Abraham prays according to the Character of God! God does all things right! God is the Judge of all the earth! God is to be approached reverently! God is not to be “pushed” too far, either. At the number 10, Abraham ceased asking and God departed. Both Paul and Jeremiah were told (by the Lord) to STOP praying about certain issues they faced as well!

Then, maybe more incidentally, but it looks like this prayer was offered in a special place. When the communion had ended … God left, “went His Way.”  But too Abraham “returned to his place.” Maybe it is wise to have a “closet” (using Jesus’ words) in which to seek the Lord! A place “apart.”

One more idea, Lesson, tomorrow morning.

We need to look at the type of person who can so gain God’s Ear.

And I thought I could cover “Abraham the Prayer Warrior” in one day!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

 

 

 

The first godly man we will “watch” pray is Abraham.

And, if altars are associated with prayer (and they certainly are, as well as being associated with worship), Abraham prayed often. I say that because repeatedly in his life, in his travels … when Abraham stops, he builds such an altar, and prays (communicates with his God)!

At least four times and likely five, Abraham does so in the Old Testament, during his lifetime. Here’s the first one. “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.” Genesis 12:6-7

Altar building (and the associated worship, including prayer) eventually becomes a “way of life” for Abraham. Note the chronological proximity of the first and second altars. “And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.” Genesis 12:8, just one verse later … with prayer now being clearly emphasized!

Even after lapsing into Egypt, a “wiser” Abraham worships, prays again! “And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.” Genesis 13:3-4, the spirit of revival, of renewal! Abraham again at prayer!

Then as soon as Abraham separated from Lot, peaceably so, he again built an altar! After receiving one of history’s greatest promises from the Lord! “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.” Genesis 13:14-18

And even at a time when Abraham was seriously “tested” of the Lord, at the “offering” of Isaac, another altar is constructed. “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order.” Genesis 22:9

Wow!

Enough times to prove that Abraham was … and I use this word purposely and in its best sense … “habitually” building altars of prayer and worship to his great God in Heaven.

So Lesson first has been learned, or taught anyway, by Abraham.

Prayer must become a “pattern” to the child of God, the very “norm” of Christian existence!

Part of regular activity, second nature, as consistent as breathing or eating or sleeping!

Paul even thought we might learn to “pray without ceasing!” 1st Thessalonians 5:17 is where this unusual command is found.

Jesus, too, often so prayed. Mark 1:13 is the template, I suspect, for our Saviour. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”

Let us learn to do likewise!

Tomorrow, the Lord willing, another Lesson from Abraham.

The greatest prayer he ever prayed, I think.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

Carefully read this Text of Scripture:

“And it came to pass, that, AS HE WAS PRAYING IN A CERTAIN PLACE, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” Luke 11:1-4

The point I need to make is this … JESUS HIMSELF WAS PRAYING when asked by one of His Disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray!”

Which our Lord immediately did, giving one of the greatest Lessons on Prayer ever uttered.

THE BIBLE JUST INDIRECTLY TAUGHT US THAT THE WAY TO LEARN SOMETHING IS TO OBSERVE ANOTHER PERSON DOING THAT THING. AN EXPERT IN THE AREA OF INTEREST!

JESUS, THE PRAYER WARRIOR, IS THUS THE BEST INSTRUCTOR IN THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER!

Now, that’s the approach we’re going to take in these Lessons on prayer.

We are going to be taught HOW to pray by the great men and women of the Bible … people who practiced, successfully I might add, prayer principles!

So tomorrow, the Lord willing, we shall study Abraham at prayer!

Then Moses!

Then Joshua!

Then others, including Elijah and Hezekiah and Jeremiah and Daniel and Nehemiah!

And we will end the series, for sure, back on Jesus as a Man of Prayer!

If we can learn bad habits from wicked men (and we certainly can according to Proverbs 22:24-25) … we can also learn good habits (prayer habits) from godly men!

Let’s take this exciting journey together!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

 

 

This “Series” of Bible Studies will be different than most on the Website, our Website. While certainly based on the Bible, and always exegeting (discussing, explaining) a verse or group of verses from the Word of God … we will center all the comments around the subject of “prayer.”

Lessons from Scripture … focused on prayer.

In response to the many invitations to pray (really, commands to pray) our Lord issues us!

Like, merely as an example:

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3

Where the verb “call” is “qara” in Hebrew, here being an imperative (required for obedience) and simply meaning “to speak or proclaim out loud” some vital sound. It can even mean “to plead in court!”

The “me” is God Himself, Jeremiah recording the Words of the Almighty!

In fact, our Verse is loaded up front with two personal pronouns referring to Deity. What Power, what Authority stands behind this prayer promise!

“Call unto ME, and I will answer thee!”

The verb “will answer” is “anah,” meaning “hear” 42 times in the King James Bible, but “answer” 242 times! It is also rendered “speak” and “testify” and “give” a few times!

But there’s more …

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3

The verb “shew” (“show”) is “nagad” in Hebrew. Used hundreds of times in the Old Testament (370 to be exact) it means “to expound” twice! Also “to tell,” 222 times, that many! And “to declare” 63 more times! God as Revealer! Why, the Book of Revelation (meaning “to reveal”) could be an answer to this prayer!

The adjective “great” is “gadol.” (529 times in the Bible) It means “large,” both in magnitude and extent! Like “deep” and “wide!” Or “many, many” then too “of superb quality!”

“Mighty” is different! “Batzsar” means “fenced in!” Or “gathered, fortified, made inaccessible!” Things “walled up, withheld,” almost “private” things! Only once, right here,” is it translated “mighty,” in all the Bible!

Things “not known” translate “lo yada.” Not even “familiar” with! Never have “experienced” previously! And certainly have “not mastered” at any point in time!

Wow!

Really, Jeremiah 33:1-10 is amazing, one of the most “about-faced” Passages in all God’s Word! God is sending punishment to a sinning Judah, the whole Nation. Then … God is yet too going to bless her (Judah) abundantly!

“Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name. Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword; they come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city (Jerusalem).”

But … God continues:

“Behold, I will bring it (Jerusalem the City, Judah the Nation) health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.”

Wow!

God’s Plan, revealed!

But still, Jeremiah, in fact all his future readers as well …

Call unto Me about these things!

Ask Me to fulfil My Promises!

Claim these mighty Deeds as Reality!

This is the “context” of Jeremiah 33:3.

Yet it can certainly be applied in our lives, too. In our “puzzling” times and “hard” places … as we trod forward, serving the Lord.

Amen!

                       — Dr. Mike Bagwell

More tomorrow, the Lord willing, about Prayer!

 

 

 

Someone called Psalm 28 another of David’s “Songs in the Night.” This expression is a quote from Job 35:10, which talks about our wonderful Lord.

“Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night?”

David begins Psalm 28 in some kind of danger. And what’s even more significant to this godly man, the Lord seems “silent” during the crisis! Here’s Psalm 28, verse 1:

“Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.”

But though times are bleak, David still trusts his God, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Verse 2 shows that tenacity, that fidelity:

“Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.”

The noun “oracle” means God’s WORD, “dabar” in Hebrew!

Then, using his faith as a weapon (!!!) David claims victory over the wicked, who have apparently been attacking him in some way! Psalm 28, verses 3-5. Read them please. They still represent a prayer to God … just now “about” the ungodly!

“Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert. Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.”

No bitterness, just Truth! Claiming God’s Word against evil!

Wow!

By now, David is much “better!” No longer discouraged (“like someone going down into a pit”), the King is now sure that (though God seemed “silent”) … He was listening all the time! Verses 6 and 7 are beautiful!

“Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.”

God has heard! And God is to be praised! In fact, David wrote a “song” about the occasion, Psalm 28!

Lastly, as we retrace the Poem’s, the Psalm’s, trajectory … David prays for other believers! This is a sign of maturing faith! Not self-centered, but focused on God’s greater family! Praying for them now …

“The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.”

What a Psalm!

From the “depths” to the “heights!”

From “depression” to “delight!”

And just what God there did for David …

He can still do for you and me!

Amen!

                           — Dr. Mike Bagwell

.