Prayers from Noah to Abraham

Lesson 2 - "Dear God, I want . . . ."

• And He Built an Altar
• What does this mean, Holmes?
• Analysis, Mr. Spock?
• And Now A Word from James

Two personal observations -

1. I'm not trying to spoon-feed you.

Now, back to the study!

Yes, I agree that Eve probably prayed, especially when she lost Cain and Abel. I also agree that many hundreds if not thousands of hours of prayer occurred in the years between Noah and Abraham, however many there were.

But we aren't playing fair if we make up prayers on behalf of these people and draw our conclusions from them. We'll confine ourselves to their recorded conversations with God.

"And He Built an Altar"

Who built altars? Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all built or repaired altars dedicated to the worship of the LORD.

The Old Testament says frustratingly little about how people worshipped back then. Altars, sacrifices, and worship were an accepted part of religion as far back as Noah! When the animals came to him, seven of all "clean" animals showed up and only two of the "unclean" appeared. Interestingly enough, seven of the birds also joined the voyage (Genesis 7:2-3).

After the flood was over Noah built an altar and sacrificed some of the clean animals and birds on it. Nothing in the text indicates that clean and unclean, altars and sacrifices were unknown or unusual. Arks were unusual and Noah received directions for that part of the project. Altars, however, seemed a common part of Noah's life.

When Abraham finally entered the "Promised Land" he built an altar and "called on the name of the LORD." (Genesis 12:7). In fact, he built and worshipped at several altars during his pilgrimage.

Isaac, his son, and his grandson Jacob also built altars and worshipped the LORD.

Yes, there is a good study regarding why they built altars where and when they did. No, we're not going there!

So what's the point of all this? Hang on - we'll get to the Observations and Principles in a moment!

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Why Did They Pray?

Genesis is an action story for the most part. God does this, humans do that. God jumps in here, humans go there. God communicates all right! He uses proclamations, promises, weird dreams, even wrestling matches to get His point across. Yahweh is directly, personally involved in the lives of these people.

BUT - remember what I said at the start? We're limiting ourselves to recorded prayers, not prayers we think were made. Guess what - in these chapters I found surprisingly few recorded prayers!

Abraham asked God for

• A son - 15:2
• Assurance - 15:8
• Ishmael - 17:18
• Sodom - 18:20-33
• Isaac - 21:11-13

A servant asked God for direction - 24:11-13

Isaac asked God for a son - 25:21

Jacob's wives asked for children - 30:16

Frankly, I am surprised that so few prayers are recorded and that they all involve human needs and desires! These people ask Yahweh for what they want. I'm also surprised that God affirmatively answered each of these prayers, though sometimes not in the way they were intended.

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What does this mean, Holmes?*

*Since this is the WORD-wide-web, I should explain - this is a reference to Sherlock Holmes, a fictional detective made famous by the English author A. Conon Doyle. Don't apologize - some US readers probably missed it, too!

Thinking this through I came up with 3 observations regarding these prayers -

1. They come from people of faith.
2. People ask God for what they want.
3. God answers these prayers.

First -

Clean animals, altars, sacrifice, and worship are part and parcel of these people's lives. Even Noah knew exactly what this meant and how to do it. These people were serious about their faith in and commitment to Yahweh, their God. True, they, like us, frequently failed to live up to this faith. Nonetheless, they were men and women of faith.

People of faith prayed these prayers. Prayer, effective prayer, comes from people of faith. Does this mean that unbelievers, people without faith, cannot pray effectively? NO! These chapters tell us nothing - NOTHING - about God's response to the prayers of unbelievers. In fact, God directly communicates to an unbeliever to warn him of impending danger (Genesis 20:3-7). Even here, though, it is Abraham the believer who prayers for Abimelech the unbeliever.

I can find no Biblical basis to proclaim that God never hears and answers the prayers of unbelievers. All I'm saying here is that these effective prayers came from believers.

Second -

I love the child-like quality of these prayers! These people simply ask for what they want. Think about what that means -

• They believed Yahweh heard them
• Their God was interested in them.
• Yahweh was powerful enough to give them their requests

Not a bad expression of faith!

Third -

God graciously answered these prayers. Sure, that's one reason why these prayers are recorded and their so-called unanswered prayers aren't. But Yahweh did answer these prayers! He vindicated their faith by granting their child-like wishes.

Analysis, Mr. Spock?*

*When Captain James T. Kirk of the original Star Trek television series ran into a plot complication he put this question to his Vulcan First Officer Spock. Yes, this was probably before your time!

So what have I learned from this?

First - believers can pray! We can ask God help and intervention at any given time. I cannot find anything here that guarantees a positive answer to every prayer, but I see that we can pray.

Second - we can and should pray for what we need and want. Even Jesus included this concept in the model prayer - "Give us this day our daily bread." Such prayers cause us to see our desires in a new light, much like Adam's verbal confession of his sin. We may retract them, refine, then, or repeat them, but we should voice them.

Third - God's answers fit His plan. Have you ever wondered why you should pray since God knows everything that will happen? Yes, so have I!

From our perspective, Isaac's prayer for a son seems almost sinful, for God had promised his father Abraham a family line. "Shut up and believe!" we shout down the millennia at him. But Isaac is human and, like us, is beset with doubt. "Give me a son!" he prays. God does, and that son - sons, actually - are part of God's infinite plan.

We, like Isaac, should also pray without worrying about God's "sovereign plan." That plan includes our needs, desires, and prayers. Let God take care of His plan. We should care for our needs by telling Him what they are, trusting Him to fit His answers into His plan. Or, on a family level, ask Dad for what you need and let him work out the details.

And Now, a Word From James

Yes, these people prayed concerning their hearts' desires - assurance, family, and the like. But we also know that our hearts are "desperately wicked." For my money no one says this better than the New Testament book of James.

James, the author, is pretty blunt in his analysis of the human condition - "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" (James 4:1). I, for one, have to agree - how many times have I wanted things that were not proper, that were based on selfishness? No, I won't give you a number, but it's greater than 1!

Be careful, he warns, about your motives when you pray for things. His words are right on target -

I know that there have been times when I've "played" with things in my mind - you know, the "what ifs," that I knew were wrong. I'd be right in the center of James' target if I ever asked God for these things. Am I the only one who's done this? I don't think so.

Yet there are other times and other things that aren't so obvious. We struggle with the question "Can I, should I ask God for this?" We're honestly not sure about our motives. Yes, I want it. Yes, I would enjoy it. But is it selfish? We just don't know. This kind of analysis can and does lead to "prayer paralysis."

James comes through with the answer. "Submit yourselves to God." (4:7). Do what you know you need to do to "purify your hearts." Then pray, but pray with a humble, submissive attitude. "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (4:15).

A lady in our Sunday School class looked out at the thick, gray clouds, then down at the flyer announcing the class picnic that afternoon. "Lord," she prayed, "you can bring out the sun and keep the rain away from us this afternoon and that's exactly what I'm asking you to do. But if you don't, we're going for it anyway!" Thanks, Sharon - I needed that!

So tell God what you want, believing that He can do everything that you ask. Ask in faith, but ask in humility also. He may know better and answer No. We may be out of line; if so, He'll tell us.

This is what I've learned from this lesson -

Now - what have you learned?

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Lesson 3