Christian Living
1. Examples in Genesis
Gen 18:23-33
“23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25 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? 26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: 28 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. 29 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. 30 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. 31 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. 32 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. 33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.” KJV
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In commencing with Gen 18:23-33 account of prayer expositions in the Bible, I would allude that Abraham was not the first person to pray in the Bible. Adam and Eve were not the first ones either, in the first place they did not have to pray while in the blissful Garden of Eden but then after the fall they neither reckoned to pray. Fortunately though, early enough in Gen 4:26, the Bible says men began to call upon the name of the LORD. It would be fair to suppose that Seth was the first man to pray after the birth of his son Enos. Never the less, there is hardly any more significant Old Testament character than Abraham who prayed for starters. Abraham was a spiritual pilgrim and patriarch, had the divine call of God on his person (Gen 12:1) and also made a covenant (Gen 12:2, 3; 17:1-6) with God which subsists to this present day. Now let us examine the prayer of intercession that Abraham made.
What caused Abraham to pray here then? The broad answer is that Abraham was privy – albeit by a word of knowledge - of an imminent doom facing a people group, community and a generation as it were. Today in our information laden world we are quite often in the know of inextricable imminent events facing individuals, people groups, communities, and nations. We will do well to emulate the example of Abraham who did not shrug off the matter or reasoned that it will serve those ‘sinners’ well. Instead Abraham connected with what grieve and death that would engulf the population of Sodom and Gomorrah and followed up with the proactive, pre-emptive action of intercessory prayers. First lesson to learn here then is for us not to judge (Luke 6:37) but rather get off our back sides or high horses and make intercessions unto God. Peradventure God, in His sovereignty, will determine that mercy triumphs over judgement on the individual intercessory matter. If you are a person who has difficulties connecting emotionally with others’ plight or trials I urge you to pause here and pray along this line; “O Lord! Please avail me with godly attributes of love, mercy and compassion for others in Jesus name, Amen.”
Moving on we see that Abraham having determined to pray did not just start shooting off his mouth. God is the ‘I AM THAT I AM’ and has to be approached reverentially and on the premise of a relationship, and an insightful knowledge of His character and disposition with any people and on any issue. The Bible is the authoritative means and platform of knowing God and coming into a relationship with Him in Christ Jesus. Second lesson here is to be necessarily born-again, and to have some insightful knowledge of God’s character and personality in other that you be devoid of presumptuousness in praying (1John 5:15). If you have read this far and uncertain of your relationship with God, please do not despair but pause here now and in your own words respectfully ask; “God please take me now into the body of Christ by the washing away of my sins. I want all you have got for me in any sequence and pattern divinely aforethought for me, in Jesus’ name.” That is it – it is by faith! That does it, congratulations.
So we see already that Abraham, having a relationship with God – as we too can by faith in Christ Jesus and Abraham knowing God necessarily well – as we too can by some spiritual knowledge of the Bible, then drew near to God in prayers and said stuff along these lines; “God, I know you to be a good God, nobody and nothing can tell me otherwise because I have seen it in the Bible, and also I have experiences that you are a good God. Now a good God would not throw away babies with the bath water if there be say fifty babies, would you God?” In my analogy here the bath water is the populace and community of Sodom and Gomorrah – akin to our 21st century culture, values, and institutions – and the baby are any believer along with those that could be saved (Jonah 4:11). God’s response was Yes, I would not throw away fifty babies with the bath water. Six times Abraham made entreaties to God progressively raising the stake each time from fifty to forty-five, to forty, to thirty, to twenty, and then to ten. What was God’s overall response to Abraham’ entreaties? You can reread that in your copy of any contemporary version of the Bible.
Abraham got desired answers to his intercessory quest never the less hailstorm and brimstones did rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah as Abraham did not bargain for fewer than ten souls as it were. Perhaps Abraham decided it was a hopeless case if a city the size of Sodom and Gomorrah could not boast of ten righteous people. Come to think of it, there was only one single righteous man, Lot, in the whole of that twin city (2Pet 2:7-8). Lot’s two daughters and wife can be likened to twenty first century church goers. Yet, God did spare them from the destruction that consumed the city. From the benefit of hindsight we have on Abraham’ intercessory prayer it is evident that there would be experiences and spiritual encounters where we stop short of a benchmark bargains with God in our prayers. Verse 33 says that Abraham returned back to his place, which to me is indicative that Abraham either received a ‘release’ in his spirit on the intercessory matter or received a ‘check’ in his spirit not to go pray further. A ‘release’ or a ‘check’ in our spirit should be basis to ending particular intercessions. In certain cases, as God chooses, there may come forth what is called a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom, a word of prophecy and or ‘interpretation of tongues’. These fall within the vocal gifts category of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:1-11) that can be exercised when Christians congregate for prayers or for fellowship.
Hopefully you have gained knowledge of intercessory type of prayer from the example of Abraham’s prayer in Gen 18:23-33. Remarkably Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, is seated at the right of God the Father interceding for us. What a marvellous thing that we are welcome to partake here on earth of the ministry of Jesus Christ in heaven! An intercessor is a Christian person with a sympathetic heart, a burden for salvation of souls, and a driving passion that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and who driven by these passions continually draws near in prayers to God on third party issues at stake. You are already equipped to start out in intercessions and for want of what to pray about; listen to the newscasts, read the dailies, look out the window at your neighbours, observe the apathy in the church, see the insidious culture of self-worship and brazen breakdown of godly values and godly institutions. Then study the Bible some more for insightful knowledge of God’s dispositions on present day occurrences. When you have done so, then draw near in the confidence of a relationship with God in Christ Jesus and pray repeatedly that God will break-in on His terms.
As born-again believers God has put it in our hearts to truly love others and have compassion for people faced with all sorts of plight and gloom in this modern age. You are to exercise these traits in words and in deeds by the ministry of intercessory prayers. However having these compassionate traits does not mean being a wimp either and hurrying off to pray for people at the drop of a hat. With some issues and people, you may get a restrain and check in your spirit not to pray as it might be best that the persons involved first burn their fingers before their attentions could shift to God for deliverance and salvation. I had a first hand experience of such Holy Spirit restrains and checks when, many years ago, I drove eight hours to visit with my parents upcountry over the Christmas holidays. Early on in the week long visit, my stepmother took ill and confided herself to her room, and I thought ‘what a great opportunity to intercede and exercise a healing faith and thereby demonstrate to my unbelieving parents that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not rhetoric’. So I sat in my own quarters of the family home and prayed in preparation to walking up to my stepmother and praying over her for healing. As I began to pray in tongues, I heard in my spirit not to suddenly lay hands on anyone (1Tim 5:22), that stopped my intensions dead on track and for several moments I laid there wondering what it is that did not meet the eye. Several years afterwards she is yet to open herself up to the gospel. So what I am saying here is that intercession is not some Robin Hood expedition neither is it about being a riot squad, rather endeavour to listen in on the Holy Sprit’ leadings and stay tuned-in to the Spirit of Jesus.
Having said about all Christians having a mind for intercession prayers I must quickly add that there are certain Christians who are called into the ‘spiritual office’ of intercession. Those in the ‘spiritual office’ of intercession are a different bunch of Christians and God has planted them in His church across the nations. Personally, I have the call of an intercessor alongside one or two other ‘spiritual offices’ in which I function as God gives me openings and grace. God called me into the spiritual office of an intercessor by a prophetic utterance and a slaying in the spirit at a Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International meeting I attended barely two weeks after my born-again experience back in Nigeria. At the time, intercession was not in my vocabulary and I had to look up the word in the dictionary on getting home from that gospel meeting. In the early years that followed I was privileged to function in this office in my local church and to grow under the guidance of a mature lady intercessor, Dr Cordelier Etuk. A wonderful woman of God who was so much into intercession prayers and much up for Jesus Christ that she later received a divine leading to resign from her medical practice and go into full time Christian ministry. Today she bears the resultant fruits of her obedience to that leading by the teaching influence she wields in the body of Christ, plus a happy home and material contentment.
Gen 32:7-12
“7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; 8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.” “9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. 11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. 12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. ” KJV
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jacob is a notable Bible character in the Old Testament, a person whom some of our present day preachers like to bet over the head on his name which means ‘the cheat or the supplanter’, and he did leave out his name until round about the time of his prayers in Gen 32:7-12. On a positive note Jacob is a patriarch after the order of Abraham. Jacob was disciplined, affectionate, industrious and prayerful too; character traits that we can all do well to emulate. The present day nation of Israel are the lineage of Jacob who himself was renamed Israel by an angel of the Lord.
The Bible indicates clearly here in verse 7 that Jacob was petrified and distressed; so (great) fear and distress should rightly serve us for an impetus to pray. I know that the Bible says in over three hundred places ‘for us to not fear’ but as humans we do fear all kinds of fear. Personally, I have been greatly afraid many a time past and some times even frivolously. At such times in going to pray I have began by thanking God in that sense of fear which has brought me to the place of prayer. So if you experience fear whether in regards of finding a job or holding down a career, social relationships, schooling, raising a family, future mortgage rates, threats of economic or financial melt-down, political upheavals as happening in Zimbabwe presently, it is best to let the fears become an impetus to pray (Jas 5:13). Next thing, also in verse 7, was that Jacob true to his character strategies in the physical before actually proceeding to pray. Our lesson here is that, where necessary, it is appropriate to make plans and device strategies before going to God in prayers. You should appreciate that your intellect and reasoning faculties comes from God and it is for you to use accordingly where you are not out of depth with the problems facing you. The Bible even says that we have the mind of Christ (1Cor 2:16), a mind that should not necessarily be averse to planning, making strategies and or taking human decisions in the wisdom of the Bible see for example Matt 5:25. So if employed plan your tasks and manage your time at work, if schooling then device study plans and strategies on exam preparations, if a mother plan accordingly, then in all cases pray over your intensions, and pray over on-going actions. If needing to make peace with your boss or mate you can wisely adapt Jacob’s approach. What I am saying here is that in praying you do not have to start off with a blank sheet but be all together submissive and glad should God either vet your plans or wipes your plans clean. Summarily a Christian’s dependence on prayers should surpass and overlap inherent dependencies on human persons, human abilities, human competencies, human experiences, human organisations, human systems, human institutions, and or polity.
The type of prayers Jacob makes here is one of Supplications and we shall now examine this type of prayer. Prayer of Supplications is a humble and sincere appeal made to God who alone, as The Alpha and Omega, has the Omnipotent power and Omniscience discretion to grant requests. Personally, I can relate to Jacob and I hope you too can. As with Jacob we find ourselves in a tight fix every so often in life either as an aggregate outcome of decisions and lifestyle choices we make or as a result of the fact that in life ‘bad things do happen’ (John 9:2-3; Luke 13:4). So expectedly prayer of supplications tops the stats of the type of prayers made because we repeatedly encounter problems in life and grabble with daily life’s issues. It is no surprise that the prayer of supplications arena is littered with some prayer-casualties too. God is not a Santa Claus that visits without need of a maintained relationship neither is God some emergency services waiting on our caprices.
In verse 9 Jacob now launches into his prayers proper and quiet significantly we see again a fundamental key to praying; one of a relationship with God, and one of some personal encounter or experience of God. You may wonder, I have just been born-again the other day what ‘experience’ do I have of God. Let me say to you that the born-again phenomenon when encountered is a unique experience of God in itself. Also the born-again phenomenon is the ground rules and defining borders of a relationship with God, which in this New Testament dispensation is only available in Christ Jesus. Jacob goes on to lay claims to God being the God of his grandfather Abraham as well as the God of his own father Isaac. What a marvellous claim if you can make such about your fore parents. I know of a guy whose grandfather was pivotal to bringing the Anglican Church into his ancestral village way back in the colonial era and this guy shows off with relish a copy of his grandfather’s Bible which was passed down to him. A Christian heritage whether at the family level or at the national should be adequately cherished to the glory of God. This is what Jacob was doing here in commencing his prayer of supplications. Those of us who are first generation Christians can still lay claim to a godly heritage and ancestry in Christ Jesus and perhaps paraphrase the beginning aspects of Jacob’s prayer along this line; ‘God who is God of all flesh and who is God to believers all through generations down to me [insert your name] in this present generation’. For added effects you can add names of a few Christians who have proven God’s faithfulness in living memory. This approach is not some gimmick; at God’s end of the prayer line it is a factual declaration of who God is, and at the human end of the prayer line it bolsters personal faith and confidence in the God of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom we come with our petitions. The idea here and in much of this book is that you may see how to import these exemplary Biblical prayers into our contemporary settings and pray same similar prayers in a fresh, natural, simple language as to possibly obtain outcomes comparable to what these faithful men of old had with their prayer life. Still moving on in verse 9, Jacob recounts to God that it is God who had said to him to return back to his native country and to his kindred and Jacob would be blessed thereto. I tell you this blows my mind, God did indeed tell Jacob “I know Esau is back there in your home country but you return back all the same and I will bless you!” This blows my mind as it registers with Psalms 23:5-6. I tell you; God can bless you in spite of enemies at work, distracters at church, adversaries in the neighbourhood, unrighteous laws, social disequilibrium, and or prevalent adversities. You may say to me, God has said nothing to me that I could anchor my petitions on. No, I beg to disagree; God has spoken a whole lot to you (Hebrews 1:1-2), all laid down there in the Bible. It is for you to ascertain the promises, the terms and the conditionality on which to base every prayer of supplications.
Jacob’s acknowledgement in verse 10 touches my heart! It is a pivotal teaching of the Bible that we are unworthy in ourselves of all the blessings of God. It takes a broken and contrite spirit to make such declarations (Psalms 34:18; Isaiah 66:2) from the depth of one’s heart. I mentioned earlier on that I can relate to Jacob; I have moved houses over six times in my adult live inclusive of one country change in returning to the UK. The first move was leaving my parents nest after graduation in quest of employment in a far away city. I moved out of my parents patch with a small size carriage bag containing basic personal effects, and years later I had my foot on a highflying career ladder, a two bed rented flat in Lagos, a personal car, and sizeable stuff. I kept that small carriage bag as a keepsake and likened it to ‘Jacob’s staff with which he crossed Jordan’. For the many years I physically kept that carriage bag, and would touch it my heart bleed with thanksgiving “O God see what you have done for me, see how well and how far you have brought me”, as I write I can picture that small carriage bag. Again, not too long ago I did a country change to live in the UK flying in with only basic personal effects, today every personal assets and household stuff I had abroad has been replicated in the UK like-for-like. When I cruise on motorways or stare out of my bedroom windows, I again whisper “O God, see what you have done for me, see how well and how far you have brought me – what is now your purpose for me”. The point I am making is that Jacob’s declaration in verse 10 should be able to resonate well with each one of us in various context. If there is not a sizeable gratitude to God in your heart then you are a candidate for counselling and deliverance. I do not mean it in a bad way but please get some counselling from your pastor. The overall lesson here is that prayer of supplications should be made with the right attitude and verbalisation that you are not in human merit of what you ask of. You are as Jacob – “not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and not worthy of all the truth, which God shows to men”. All the same in Christ we are blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3), we can ask whatever we godly desire (John 14:13), and are assured of God’ delight to oblige our supplications (Luke 12:32).
You can read in Gen 32:13-20 further human actions that Jacob undertook in the aftermath of his praying. I like to think that his follow up actions were consequential to his praying than merely sequential. The points I make here are that the outcome of praying could be that you will take some specific mitigating actions and to address some character issues with yourself as the Spirit may, by the conscience or otherwise, instruct you. Further than the chapter 32 of Genesis it is shown that Jacob had a warm reunion with his brother Esau.
Gen 32:24-30
“24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” KJV
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This prayer accounts how Jacob’ destine was divinely changed and present day nation of Israel became named and established. The beginning of the prayer account records that Jacob was ‘left alone’. We live in a time of media invasion with its attendant noise and unrelenting distractions. We think ‘to be left alone’ is a bad thing in itself but many a people who leaves a legacy for the world have had to either isolate themselves for a season and for a cause or been providentially isolated for a season. Moses was isolated in the wilderness with his father in-law’s flock and there God met with him (Exodus 3:2-4). David was isolated with his father sheep, and there had first hand experiences of God’s deliverance from bear and lion (1Sam 17:36-37). Jesus Christ was himself isolated in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights and there broke the devil’s back three years ahead of triumphing over Satan at the cross. Isaac Newton who discovered the force of gravity is said to have done so seating under an apple tree all by himself when he observed that the fruit fell downwards rather than upwards – in other words he made the discover at a moment of isolation. In my personal experience I have had to voluntarily isolate myself few days at a time to fast and pray. I make a daily effort at isolating myself, sometimes in lavatories, so I could sneak a look at the Bible or quieten my mind to marvelling at the ways and the person of God. If you are to grow much in things of the spirit, you should cultivate a practice of voluntary isolation both to meditate on the Word and to pray. Isolation is a prayer key of choice.
The type of prayer Jacob prayed here is one of spiritual warfare. It is a type of prayer where and when destine is either made for real or marred. It is a type of prayer where you vow not to take prisoners and not to be taken prisoner either. We see in verses 25-26 that Jacob was, so to speak, in a feud with the angel of the Lord and though battered, exhausted, and faintish Jacob still maintained “I will not let go unless you bless me”. Jesus Christ, our Lord, thought significantly on this principle of persistence in prayer (Luke 11:8; Matt 11:12). Persistence is a key to travailing in prayer. To make this kind of prayer lines that Jacob made you have to know your onions – that is who you are in Christ Jesus, what God has said about you as a person or church or family or group. Impercipience is the blight of praying! Just as in physical warfare, spiritual warfare requires some preparation. For example prior to the actual physical invasion of Iraq by the coalition forces there was preparatory build up by the Pentagon, so it is with spiritual warfare too and spiritual preparatory steps are outlined in Ephesians 6: 11-17 and James 4:7 amongst many other Biblical references. It is not my intension at this juncture to expound on spiritual warfare aspect of prayer but bear in mind that it is not for babies although a ‘child-soldier’ can readily engage with spiritual warfare and yet obtain victory (Zech 4:6). Like with the physical ‘child-solders’ in conflict areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, you have got to be up for it though.
As we see in verse 28, the outcome of Jacob’s persistence and resilience in prayer is that his name and destine was transformed from one of a supplanter to Israel which means ‘A Prince with God’ and any right living believer is today a prince with God in Christ Jesus. Jacob riding on the victory now asked the name of the angel of the Lord but instead got a soft rebuke together with a blessing. This shows that God can rebuke and bless even in one breath (Heb 12:6-8). Following on in verse 29, Jacob sets up a memorial to the answered prayer he has experienced. We need this lesson of doing likewise, albeit in contemporary ways, with our experiences of answered prayers. All too often we have long memory of what prayers that God has not answered rather than gratefully keeping a memoir of answered prayers. Even quite disturbing, in my view, is an emergence of some kind of doctrine that God does not always answer prayer – a fact of human experiences of unanswered prayers does not equate to a Biblical doctrine. The Bible says all things work for the good of those who loves God and who are born-again (Rom 8:28). So, answered prayer or ‘unanswered’ prayer both works for good, and we are not to make up excuses and human reasoning to drawing back from a lifestyle of prayer as there are dare consequences if we do (Heb 10:38-39).
Copyright © 2008 by Aham Igbokwe
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 943 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Aham Igbokwe or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 943 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.