Word of Encouragement (01/13/2022)
So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. 2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD (Gen. 13:1-4).
Here we see Abram do what God’s people should do: call upon the name of the LORD. We saw how this very thing was what distinguished the Sethites from the Cainites in Gen. 4: “To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD” (4:26). Commenting on Abram’s prayer, Matthew Henry says, “All God’s people are praying people. You may as soon find a living man without breath as a living Christian without prayer.”
We are pretty sure that Abram was not a man of prayer—at least, not yet. When he entered the land of Canaan and God promised him that He would give the land to his offspring, Abram built an altar to the Lord (12:7). Then, he moved to a place between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar (12:8). It is to this place Abram returns and calls upon the name of the LORD in today’s passage. We can assume that, when he built these altars, he prayed to God. But we cannot be sure since we are not told that expressly as we are in today’s passage.
What is uncertain is not so uncertain when it comes to Abram’s prayer life between these two incidents of building altars and calling upon the name of the Lord. What happened between the two? There was a famine in the land and Abram took his family (including Lot and his family) down to Egypt. You know what happened there. Fearing that Pharaoh might kill him and take his wife, Sarai, by force, he asked Sarai to say that she was his sister. She was taken by Pharaoh and was rescued from being violated only by God’s intervention. Pharaoh rebuked Abram for lying to him and sent him away with her.
In all this, there is no mention of Abram praying. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he did not pray at all. The Bible does not, and cannot, record everything. But it would be strange for the Bible to not mention Abram’s prayer, especially during this period of crises—the famine and the potential loss of his wife—if he indeed prayed and was rescued as a result of it. It is also noteworthy that, during this period, Abram seems to be motivated by fear. Fear of others is not what we associate with someone who prays, is it?
If that is the case, we can see how the fear that resulted from prayerlessness led Abram to make foolish/wrong decisions. Even though we cannot fault him for going down to Egypt to find food, we must question Abram’s act of “selling out” his wife to save himself. It was not an honorable thing to do as a husband, especially when we consider how Christ laid down His life for His bride, the Church.
I’m sure you can identify with this point. Fear is a powerful motivator. In many cases, it is a necessary motivator, especially when we are in imminent danger. But in many cases, when our decision-making process is dominated by fear, it can lead to cowardly, dishonorable, and wrong courses of action. Abram is a good example. Saul, also, made a similar mistake by offering sacrifices himself before Samuel came because he was afraid that all his soldiers might desert (also out of fear!). I’m sure we all can come up with our own examples.
Praying is important, especially in times of crisis, because, by praying, we switch our perspective from an atheistic one (seeing the world without God) to a theistic one (seeing the world under God’s control). That should make all the difference in the world, and it does. We may be overwhelmed by a mountain of trouble we see before us (Ps. 121:1). But if we can just look up and call upon the name of the LORD, everything changes. What is a mountain of trouble to God, who made heaven and earth (Ps. 121:2)? Why should we be so full of anxiety and fear when we can pray to the sovereign Lord of all in the mighty name of Jesus Christ?
Do you have decisions to make? What is motivating you? Are you in danger of making foolish decisions on account of fear? I hope you can take time to be still before God and call upon His name. As you do so, may the Lord fill your heart with His peace and grant composure to your mind to decide on the wise, right course of action!