Tag: faith

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On several occasions, I’ve preached, taught, or blogged about the role of mountains in the Bible.

They’re places of revelation.

On Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the Law (Exodus 24:12-18).
On Mount Carmel, God showed Himself superior to the idols of Israel (1 Kings 18:19-39).
On Mount Zion, God will teach the nations His ways (Isaiah 2:2-3).
On a mountain in Galilee, Jesus explained what life in God’s kingdom looks like (Matthew 5:1-2).
On another unnamed mountain, Jesus manifested His glory (Matthew 17:1-8).

Not saying every scriptural reference to a mountain indicates a special revelation. But this pattern exists. In the Word, mountains serve as locations of divine communication.

A few days ago, I finished the book of Revelation in my devotional reading, which means it’s time for me to start over! So during my study in Genesis, I came to the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19).

God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son. The miracle child, the one whom the Lord promised to Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham already had a son, Ishmael, but he wasn’t the fulfillment of God’s pledge. And Abraham had trouble accepting this.

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under Your blessing!” ¹⁹Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. – Genesis 17:17-21

How delighted must these parents have been to receive and care for God’s precious gift!

But a test was coming.

“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ²Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love–Isaac–and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’ – Genesis 22:1-2

Abraham obeyed without hesitation.

“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.” – Genesis 22:3

The chapter then conveys an odd comment.

“On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’” – Genesis 22:4-5

If Abraham sacrifices Isaac on the mountain of Moriah, how will two the two of them return to the servants? Abraham would have to drag the body of his son back to the camp!

But he had a different idea.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. – Hebrews 11:17-19

So sure was Abraham that God would keep His promises that he was willing to sacrifice his son. If the sacrifice forced the Lord to raise Isaac from the dead, well, then, so be it!

Abraham was ready to follow through.

“When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” – Genesis 22:9-10

And at the last second, God intervened.

“But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ¹²‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’” – Genesis 22:11-12

Abraham demonstrated his faith; he proved his commitment to the Lord.

But God wasn’t finished. He gave Abraham an animal to sacrifice.

“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” – Genesis 22:13-14

And He also reinforced the covenant.

The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶and said, “I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.” – Genesis 22:15-18

The Lord blessed Abraham, in the short-term and the long-term, because he trusted Him.

If Abraham’s experience is similar to the ones I listed above, then God shared something with him. He did, but there’s another revelation.

Abraham revealed something to God.

According to Hebrews 11, the patriarch exhibited his faith in God. And according to Genesis 22, Abraham demonstrated total surrender to the Lord.

I find it interesting that the word translated “provide” in Genesis 22:14 means “to see.” No doubt, Abraham received insight into the mind of God, this verb suggests that God saw something about Abraham. He observed the man’s faith in action to the greatest extent possible.

Let’s not forget to treat revelation as relational. Revelation is more than God granting us educational mountaintop experiences. It’s reciprocal. The Lord wants us to share our hearts with Him, too.

His covenants work both ways.

He speaks to us. He wants us to talk to Him.

He’s given us His Son. He wants us to hold nothing back from Him.

He reveals Himself to us. That’s the primary revelation. And we reveal ourselves to Him. That’s the other revelation.

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(The verses in this post are from the NASB.)

I got challenged by a Scripture verse!

It’s true that God gave His children the Word so we could grow in confidence. This is what Paul tells the Roman Christians:

“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” – Romans 15:4

But there are times when the Bible shows us where we’re falling short. I discovered this about my prayer life from the following verse:

“Epaphras, who is one of your own, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings, always striving earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.” – Colossians 4:12

Good for Epaphras, he sounds like a real prayer warrior! He not only interceded for the Colossian church, but he did so with vigor and effort. I get the impression he put his heart into his words before God.

He didn’t quit, either. Paul says Epaphras was “always” praying for the Colossians. He was consistent and courageous–the stuff of a real prayer ministry.

Most of the time, I pray in a mild fashion. There’s nothing wrong with being quiet and still before the Lord, but some situations call for a more aggressive approach.

The term Paul uses to describe this attitude and action is “striving earnestly” (which I put in bold in the verse above). The Greek verb is agonizomai, from which we derive the English word “agony.” It sounds intense!

This word occurs eight times in the New Testament. We find it twice in the gospels.

“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” – Luke 13:24

“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.’” – John 18:36

To strive or fight–that’s the essence of this verb. Whatever kind of resistance Epaphras experienced in prayer, he wrestled through it so the Colossians could gain clarity about God’s will.

“Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” – 1 Corinthians 9:25

Yes, that’s four words in English for one in Greek! The Olympic Games and other sporting contests illustrate the principle of agonizing. It doesn’t refer to emotional distress or displeasure. The word emphasizes the effort athletes put into winning. On television, I hear athletes talk about “leaving it all on the field.” They give everything they have. That’s what agonizomai is getting at.

In the context of prayer, we need to cover the bases. We have to treat the subject (and the people) we’re praying about with thoroughness.

This sounds like work, and it is!

“For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me.” – Colossians 1:29

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.” – 1 Timothy 4:10

In the two verses above, Paul connects labor and striving. The work of the ministry requires, even demands, full-hearted commitment and effort. But this isn’t meant to weary us. God supplies us the strength to proclaim His good news. His gospel, His power–we partner with Him to spread the word!

The same is true about prayer. It’s not easy, but God’s Spirit empowers us to pray through issues. We can prevail because the Lord is helping us.

“Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” – 1 Timothy 6:12

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” – 2 Timothy 4:7

Finally, even faith involves fighting. We encounter all kinds of obstacles that challenge our trust in God and try to derail our walk with Jesus. And society throws objections to the content of the gospel all the time.

We encounter these in a keen way when we’re serving Christ. In some respects, ministry is a battlefield. God provides victory for His people, but we still have to fight. We have to join the battle.

The struggle won’t last forever. Paul encouraged young Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith,” but he also declared the end of his own battle. He was going home to be with Jesus. We can be brave because we know our destination.

By the way, the word agonizomai shows up twice in a verse in the Greek Old Testament. Here it is:

“Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed, and set his mind on rescuing Daniel; and until sunset he kept exerting himself to save him.” – Daniel 6:14

The advisors to the Persian king, Darius, had tricked him into signing a decree forbidding anyone from praying to any god except the king for a month. Daniel ignored the decree which would cost him his life.

That was the plan anyway.

Before Daniel got tossed into the lions’ den, Darius fought to set him free. This wasn’t a physical battle; it was legal. The king was desperate to find a loophole or an exception–anything to safeguard Daniel.

He failed, but God didn’t. The Lord protected Daniel in the lion’s den and he suffered no harm. Not even a scratch!

So let’s bring all this back to prayer.

I said at the outset that Colossians 4:12 challenged me. I learned that my prayer life, as a whole, was too passive. I don’t believe that shouting impresses the Lord. Begging won’t incline Him to answer our prayers. There’s no substitute for faith. We pray because we trust who God is and what He can do.

But as followers of Jesus, we also know we have to practice our faith. We show our confidence in God by approaching Him in prayer and dealing with important issues.

So the challenge has encouraged me. And I hope that you, too, will dare to sink yourself into your prayers. The stakes are high, God will hear, so let’s go!

faith

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