Isaac's Prayer
I think it's very beneficial for us to look at and learn from the prayers that we find in the Bible. I think that in these prayers we find there are patterns to imitate and examples to follow. We find examples of things to pray for and even sometimes in the prayers in the Bible we find types of Christ, particularly in the Old Testament. Recently, I've been looking through some of the first prayers that we find in Genesis and I wanted to look at one of those found in Genesis 25:21 in the life of Isaac.
Genesis 25:21,
Such a very simple passage to understand. There's not a whole lot going on there. And yet in what is going on there, there is surprisingly a lot for us to take away from that. There are some examples for prayer that we find there, and I think also perhaps a type of Christ in this passage. So, very simply, we see that Isaac prays that God would open Rebecca's womb; and then we see that God answers his prayer and opens Rebecca's womb. We find out later several verses down that Rebecca had been barren apparently for about 20 years, so this was probably also a persistent prayer. This probably wasn't just one time that Isaac prayed, this was probably a consistent prayer over the course of perhaps a couple of decades.
What can we learn from this? Well, first of all, I think that we see an example here. So just by way of qualifier, there are, of course, a few different reasons why Isaac might pray this prayer for his wife and a few having to do with the promise that was already given to Abraham. But even just stepping back from that and looking at, generally speaking, what's happening, we have here the example of a husband praying for his wife. Very simply right there we already have one example to learn from. It is good and it is important for us as husbands to pray for our wives. If we are to wash our wives with the water of the word, if we're to love them as Christ loved the church, dwell with them in an understanding way, show honor to them as the weaker vessel, it seems like prayer is an indispensable part of that. So we have here just very simply an example of husbands praying for wives.
In addition to that, we also have an example of a believer asking for a good thing. We're instructed in scripture to pray in accordance with God's revealed will. And there was nothing bad and everything good about what it was that Isaac was praying here. Even just thinking about infertility or barrenness as a thorn, as Pastor Cook reminded us on Sunday, there's nothing wrong with asking God to remove a thorn so long as it is done with a submissive spirit. So we have an example of a husband praying for his wife; we have an example of a believer asking for a good thing.
We also have an example of big faith. We have here Isaac praying based on his knowledge of who God is and what God is able to do. And evidently asking over the course of those many years didn't weaken his faith. He still considered, even perhaps as Abraham and Sarah did, he still considered him able to do this. And so we have an example of, once again, big faith.
Then in God answering this specific prayer request, we are reminded of the importance of intercessory prayer in general. So I think this is just another thing that encourages us to keep on doing what we're already doing. We're doing this on Wednesdays, we're doing this one Sunday night a month, we're doing this in our small group that also meets on one Sunday a month. It pleases God for us to pray for one another and it is a means by which he accomplishes his purposes. Isaac prayed and our text says God answered. And I was even reminded of that passage in James chapter five that says that the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. And so may we take comfort and encouragement from knowing that and being reminded of that.
And then lastly, and just to give credit where it's due, I think Pastor Cook said something that tipped me off to this. Looking at this passage again made me think that this son of Abraham, Isaac, praying for his wife, perhaps should also remind us of another son of Abraham who prayed and still prays for his wife. In other words, I think that this is a type of Christ. Christ as a son of Abraham, the one promised in whom all nations would be blessed, not only did he pray for his church on the earth when he was ministering (in John chapter 17, we have a good example of that) he continues to pray for us even now. And so may that knowledge encourage us and may it comfort us now as we continue to bear one another's burdens this evening.
Genesis 25:21,
“And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebecca, his wife conceived.”
Such a very simple passage to understand. There's not a whole lot going on there. And yet in what is going on there, there is surprisingly a lot for us to take away from that. There are some examples for prayer that we find there, and I think also perhaps a type of Christ in this passage. So, very simply, we see that Isaac prays that God would open Rebecca's womb; and then we see that God answers his prayer and opens Rebecca's womb. We find out later several verses down that Rebecca had been barren apparently for about 20 years, so this was probably also a persistent prayer. This probably wasn't just one time that Isaac prayed, this was probably a consistent prayer over the course of perhaps a couple of decades.
What can we learn from this? Well, first of all, I think that we see an example here. So just by way of qualifier, there are, of course, a few different reasons why Isaac might pray this prayer for his wife and a few having to do with the promise that was already given to Abraham. But even just stepping back from that and looking at, generally speaking, what's happening, we have here the example of a husband praying for his wife. Very simply right there we already have one example to learn from. It is good and it is important for us as husbands to pray for our wives. If we are to wash our wives with the water of the word, if we're to love them as Christ loved the church, dwell with them in an understanding way, show honor to them as the weaker vessel, it seems like prayer is an indispensable part of that. So we have here just very simply an example of husbands praying for wives.
In addition to that, we also have an example of a believer asking for a good thing. We're instructed in scripture to pray in accordance with God's revealed will. And there was nothing bad and everything good about what it was that Isaac was praying here. Even just thinking about infertility or barrenness as a thorn, as Pastor Cook reminded us on Sunday, there's nothing wrong with asking God to remove a thorn so long as it is done with a submissive spirit. So we have an example of a husband praying for his wife; we have an example of a believer asking for a good thing.
We also have an example of big faith. We have here Isaac praying based on his knowledge of who God is and what God is able to do. And evidently asking over the course of those many years didn't weaken his faith. He still considered, even perhaps as Abraham and Sarah did, he still considered him able to do this. And so we have an example of, once again, big faith.
Then in God answering this specific prayer request, we are reminded of the importance of intercessory prayer in general. So I think this is just another thing that encourages us to keep on doing what we're already doing. We're doing this on Wednesdays, we're doing this one Sunday night a month, we're doing this in our small group that also meets on one Sunday a month. It pleases God for us to pray for one another and it is a means by which he accomplishes his purposes. Isaac prayed and our text says God answered. And I was even reminded of that passage in James chapter five that says that the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. And so may we take comfort and encouragement from knowing that and being reminded of that.
And then lastly, and just to give credit where it's due, I think Pastor Cook said something that tipped me off to this. Looking at this passage again made me think that this son of Abraham, Isaac, praying for his wife, perhaps should also remind us of another son of Abraham who prayed and still prays for his wife. In other words, I think that this is a type of Christ. Christ as a son of Abraham, the one promised in whom all nations would be blessed, not only did he pray for his church on the earth when he was ministering (in John chapter 17, we have a good example of that) he continues to pray for us even now. And so may that knowledge encourage us and may it comfort us now as we continue to bear one another's burdens this evening.
Posted in Pastor Devotional