PRINCIPLE #3: PRAY IT
We need to make prayer a priority. Constant communication with God is essential for victory and the fulfillment of the promise.
Genesis 12:7 says that the Lord appeared unto Abram and further said that he would not only give the land to him but to his descendants. And the scripture then says that Abram built an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him.
Abram built an altar, a permanent structure. This was more than a permanent place of prayer or worship. This was a commitment to pray. He acknowledged the presence of God that appeared to him and the revelation that God gave him. So he built an altar, a permanent place of prayer and worship, to give God praise and thanksgiving. Set a time of prayer, devotion, worship, and bible study. Some call this a Quiet Time, an appointment with God. Just like a doctor’s appointment or a weekly meeting at work, we need a consistent time and place with God. We need to build an altar.
I heard my pastor, Pastor Daryl Arnold, teach in Acts 3 that Peter and John were in the habit of coming to the temple at the hour of prayer. This was not something they did one time or every now and then, but every day. The same time every day. And as a result, they positioned themselves for a miracle. Likewise, if we build a permanent place of prayer and worship, I believe as Peter and John, that it will position us for a miracle.
In Genesis 12:8, it says that Abram removed himself from where he was in Genesis 12:7 and pitched his tent in between Bethel and Hai, having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east. Bethel means “house of God”. Hai means “heap of ruins.” Abram pitches his tent in between the house of God and a “heap of ruins.” It’s like as we say, Abram is between a rock and a hard place. How many of you reading this right now, find yourself in such a place – a difficult place – whether it be sickness in your body or the inability to pay your bills and provide for your family? When Abram found himself in such a place, what did he do? Abram builds another altar unto the Lord and calls upon the name of the Lord. Abram is seeking the Lord for additional direction and instruction. And this is exactly what we must do in our difficult place! We all need a permanent place of prayer whether it’s in the House of God or in the Heap of Ruins of your life or somewhere in between. We need to create a place and atmosphere where we can meet with God and get instructions and directions at every stage of our life.
This is what we must do. Not walk around life blind and aimless. We need to continually acknowledge God and seek Him for wisdom. “Ok Lord, I did the last thing you told me, now what?”
Ephesians 5:15-17AMPCE says:
14 Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light. 15 Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), 16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit.
The only way to fully understand and know what is the will of the Lord is to stay in constant communication with God.
Now in Genesis 12:10, there is a famine in the land of promise and Abram decides to take his family to Egypt because the famine was so grievous. While there, he asks his wife Sarah to lie and say that she is his sister because he is more interested in sparing his own life, than preserving his marriage. But God is with Abram and Pharaoh finds out that Sarai is really his wife. They get sent away from there and Abram returns back to the land of promise with his family which included Lot, his brother’s son.
In Genesis 13 upon his return from Egypt, we see that the first thing Abram does is to go back to the altar he built that was between Bethel (house of God) and Hai (heap of ruins) and he called on the name of the Lord. Abram had messed up at the end of Genesis 12. He made a mistake and his ‘go-to’ was to go back to the place of prayer. So with you and I. When we mess up, when we make a mistake, we don’t need to RUN FROM GOD as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. We need to RUN TO GOD like we see Abram doing here in Genesis 13:3-4.
LESSON FROM ABRAM: When you don’t know what to do, go back to the last place God spoke to you.