Intercessory Prayer: Abraham, Sarah & Hagar

By Odon Bulamba (summary only - 25th Nov, 05)

Gen 16 & 21

God had promised to Abraham that he would have many descendents but at 90 years old Abraham started to wonder if God had lied because himself and his wife were too old now and God had told him so many years ago. So he wondered if God really sticks to His promises.

Sometimes God takes a long time to fulfill His promises and He doesn’t do that to torture us but because He wants His right time to be there. None of God’s promises are a lie, He accomplishes everything that He promises but what we need is greater than patience because without it we can’t handle our situation and think we need an immediate solution.

God is unable to be pushed but when you keep insisting that you need it straight away, it will end in a bad way. God has a plan for you and me but that plan has to be fulfilled only when we are following God’s steps but if you are going beyond God, God will leave you somewhere. For example Sarah and Abraham were supposed to kneel down and pray to God and wait for His time but they decided to use Sarah’s servant to get a son and at first they had joy but later they were not happy with the result. When you find your own solution, you’ll see the result and you will appreciate it but later your solution will bring you problems.

Sarah and Abraham named that child Ishmael which means ‘God hears’ but Sarah forgot that God could hear all her complaints and hatred for that child. Most of the things that God hears from us put us into trouble. We have to pray carefully and our actions must be controlled and pure. Whatever we confess God hears, we have to wait for the consequences but whenever we take our own solution, there will be a problem at the end.

Sarah wasn’t happy because Ishmael was not her child and when we are praying and God gives answers to other people and not us, we are against that and become jealous. When God blesses others and not me, I don’t thank God but ask, ‘why not me?’ It’s up to God to decide to whom and when He will respond and we who don’t get an answer straight away don’t have to find our own solution and give up on God.

Sarah wanted Ishmael to leave their house because she didn’t want a relationship between Ishmael and his father and how many times do we forget there is a relationship between God and our bothers and sisters? I don’t have to think, ‘o Shari doesn’t deserve that’. We have to remember that Jesus told the disciples to leave the children where they were because they are like the Kingdom of God. But children are annoying and we have to remember that people who are annoying are the same people who are loved by God.

Hagar faced a serious problem in the desert with no water and her son was dying but she didn’t blame Abraham. If Odon told you to take your son on vacation and something happened to your son you would blame Odon because we don’t accept the situation as it is and try to put reasons and problems onto other’s shoulders. Hagar was far away from others and God came to her and in the same way, those of us who are isolated from others are the ones that God will come to. Hagar was pushed away by Sarah and how many times do we push the souls of others to run away from us and even from God because we are jealous. The first way we push others to run away is lack of humility.

When we don’t wait for God’s answer we have conflict because we are not patient or because we are proud or lazy or we don’t care or we are selfish and sometimes because we hate each other.

If God is a pure God, why did He allow Hagar to get pregnant to her master? If God is righteous, why did He bless all the generations of Ishmael? Whenever God gives to us a gift but we don’t treat it properly, God will pass that gift on to someone else. For example if Ange has the gift of prayer but she tells Michelle to pray. God will look at her and say, ‘because you are not using that gift I will give it to someone else. (Numbers 11) God gave some of Moses’ power to the 70 elders and whenever you are not serious or committed to God’s work, you’ll stay behind. When we are there just to motivate others but we are not participating, we will lose (Mathew 25:14-30).

An intercessor is someone who will accept God’s promises no matter when God will accomplish it and it’s not up to us to push God to do it quickly. Hagar (a servant) became the wife of Abraham and when you are a good servant of God but you don’t work with patience God can easily take what you have and give it to someone who is nothing and when that happens don’t complain to God. That is a big mistake today, when things go wrong we blame God while we are responsible for it.

Habukuk 3:10,18,19, mountains and seas are monsters in front of us (e.g. earthquakes and tidal waves) but in front of God they are afraid. Sarah lost her joy because she had forgotten that God was her friend, do you remember that God is your friend? When you are weak do you remember God? How do you find strength? At the gym, from your mother, your father, your husband? We have to remember that God is our strength and if He’s our strength then we can never be let down, we can’t lose any battle or lose to temptation or to satan and we’ll never feel ashamed or disappointed. But if your strength is money, when money flies you’ll cry and if your strength is your mental ability, when you can’t read anymore you’ll cry. Anything can happen but if we know that God is our strength, whatever happens we’ll overcome it.

Sometimes God tells us what to do but on the way because of lack of trust or hope we need a sign to make sure we are going in the right direction. Be careful though because sometimes we think something is a sign when it’s there as a deception so we have to ask God. God can send someone to you to talk on behalf of God or you can hear His voice directly or feel His presence or have a clear idea but it’s good to kneel down before you do anything and ask God if it’s really from Him so you can’t be mislead and signs are there.

SUMMARY

- God always fulfills His promises - Wait for God to answer
- Don’t try to find your own solution - It will end badly
- Remember God hears everything
- Praise God when He blesses others - Don’t be jealous
- Lack of Humility - Pushes people to run from you and God
- Use what God gives to you - Or He will give it to someone else
- Find your strength in God
- Ask God for signs - When you don’t know where to go

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