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Genesis 15 – Praying through the Bible #5 – A Prayer of If and When
Receiving the promise, Abraham lived in the world of “if and when.” Living with expectation can bring hope or become a burden. The burden of expectation is the fear it will not be accomplished. Abraham is a conundrum of fear and faith, just like the rest of us. His faith leads him out of Ur (12). His fear leads him to Egypt where he is afraid of the king (12). His faith leads him to battle against kings (14). Then, when God appears to him in Genesis 15, Yahweh says, “Do not be afraid.” Possibly he is fearful of retaliation from the kings, or as is common, it is fear from the appearance of God or angels. The most common command in the Bible, “Fear not.”
Abraham’s “prayer” (15.2) sounds like a sigh. God promises “your reward will be great” (15.1) and immediately Abraham responds, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless” (15.2). Seemingly, nothing else mattered. Waiting on God, Abraham appointed Eliezer his heir. When God reassures him, “Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness” (15.6). Ahh, the sweet comfort and reward of faith.
Faith sustains us because we all live in the shadow of yet unfulfilled promises and unanswered prayers. We all live in the world of “if and when.” God’s promises are both conditional and unconditional, and sometimes we confuse the two. When praying about problems, people, plans and such, we hope God will say yes. God sometimes says no. That means when waiting we have to live in both the “when” and the “if.”
This is our prayer challenge for today. The majority of a Christian’s life is spent waiting. Pray for strength against fear and doubt. Pray that you will not allow time waiting or singular requests to consume you. Think of the prayer requests you have made and ask God if you are confusing God’s conditional and unconditional promises. Live in the hope of “when,” and pray for strength to live in the reality of “if.” While living, thank God for the greatest promise, that we are credited as righteous by our faith.
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