Genesis 16:1-16
Does God Need Our Help?
 
Years passed after God’s promise to Abram of countless descendants, and Abram and Sarai still had no children. How difficult it is for us human beings to continue to believe God after waiting a long time for His promises to be fulfilled! Abram and Sarai succumbed to the temptation to “help” God and took matters into their own hands. Before the Lord, think about your own past. When have you taken action on your own instead of trusting and waiting on God? And what about right now? Ask the Lord to show you how and where you might be rushing ahead of Him.
 
Neither Abram nor Sarai asked God’s opinion of her plan to use Hagar as a sort of surrogate mother. Lord, what plan am I considering for my life right now that I have not consulted You about? What action am I taking, or about to take, on the basis of my own (faulty) wisdom and (feeble) power? I ask for Your wisdom; open my ears to hear it.
 
Like Adam in Genesis 3, Abram passively followed his wife’s suggestion instead of actively leading her. If you are a married man, ask the Lord to give you the strength and wisdom you need to be a godly leader in your home. If you are a married woman, ask the Lord to make you aware of times you take the reins of leadership from your husband and then help you resist that impulse.
 
Part of the bad fruit of Abram and Sarai’s bad decision was trouble in their family that would continue for years. Pastor Shannon commented that perhaps the closest application we can make in our modern world involves adultery. In the Lord’s presence, consider the bad fruit, the pain and broken relationships, that would come in your life if you were to commit the sin of adultery. Ask God to use that sober evaluation to keep you from ever being “swept away” in a vulnerable moment.
 
Abram’s debacle with Hagar is concrete evidence that God’s covenant was unconditional; it did not depend at all on Abram’s performance. His covenant of salvation with us is similarly unconditional. God doesn’t need the “loose change of our righteousness” to add to His complete payment of our debt. In prayer this week, bask in the deep, glorious rest the Lord has given you. Ask Him how you can share the stunning beauty and truth of the gospel with someone who is living in darkness.
 
Calvary Family
 
Pray for our young people who are graduating from high school or college or a graduate program. As they lay out plans for the next chapter of life, pray that they will remember to submit their plans to the Lord and follow Him in everything. (See above!)
 
Lift up parents and Sunday School teachers who instruct our young children about God. A few weeks ago, Pastor Shannon noted that lessons sometimes portray the men and women in the biblical Hall of Faith as do-no-wrong heroes rather than as flawed human beings used by God. Pray that none of our teaching would inadvertently contradict the gospel.
 
Take time to read and pray through the latest prayer letter from Tomasz Chylka in Pszczyna, Poland. Tomasz requests prayer for upcoming events in his church, including an evangelistic outreach to children that involves a truckload of Legos and a Bible study meeting in a town that served as a base for Soviet rockets in communist times. Tomasz also recaps the church’s anniversary celebration and thanks us for our gift to their “Journey of Faith” building fund. The Calvary team will report on the visit next Sunday in both services.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert
Calvary Community Church of Brea