Notes on Gen. 18:16-33

Dare to Draw Near – Gen. 18:16-33

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What I want to show you is the Genesis of Prayer. The first time man offers supplication to a deity. Prayer is:

· The mightiest force on this earth

· The instrument through which God directs the destiny of men.

· The greatest weapon of Spiritual warfare

· The highest skill in holiness

· The ultimate tool of the Christian and

· The noblest privilege of the saint.

? - WHAT YOU ARE IN PRAYER IS WHAT YOU ARE…IN LIFE AND MINISTRY?

The text break down this way – 3 parts:

1) The force behind prayer – (16-21)

2) The Authority behind prayer – (22-25)

3) The technique of prayer – (26-33)

1. The Force Behind Prayer

Why do I need to pray? Isn’t God going to take care of it – That's the Cowards answer! More Christians are cowering behind the sovereignty of God and not doing there do diligence.

My prayers do not form the will of God, it’s the will of God that forms my prayers. God has chosen to work though prayer. I don’t know why – but I know he didn't save us and tell us to sit over there and shut up! he wants us usable vessels.

What is the force behind prayer? God uses passion and pressure and squeezes us into prayer.

Illustration: –

Part 1 – God to Abraham – "Let me tell you what I am going to do so you can tell your family what I think about sin…"

Part 2 – Abraham to God - "Wait God – Lot lives there – (Passion and pressure) - stupid nephew – I brought this boy, I’ve rescued him, now I have to intercede again…hey God, what about if there is 50 righteous, 40, 30, 20, 10 - OK..."

Note 1 – Remember, God gets glory in the process and the product. Prayer is the spotlight on sovereignty. aka - in which situation does God receive the glory - in a saved sinner or a guy who tells - Answer - Both

Illustration: Notice the passion and pressure

· George Muller – had a burden for England's orphans – raised 10mill pounds to help them and prayed almost every night for food to feed them.

· Man in Boston who was burdened for India who became the father of US missions – William Carey – So effective that now in Bangladesh there is the William Carey Academy.

· George Whitfield – burdened for a young New England and prayed 3 days without sleep – start of the great awakening.

· CCC – Bill Bright burdened for college student because of the existentialism being taught to them and started Campus Crusade for Christ.

? - Why pray? Our Heart is broken with the things that brake the heart of God – feel what he feels – Sin, lost, hurting, widows, orphans.

? - Why we don’t pray? Our heart isn’t broken or in touch with the things that break Gods heart – CARNAL PEOPLE DON’T VIBRATE WHAT GOD VIBRATES.

2) The Authority Behind Prayer

Abraham prays with the nature and character and reputation of God in mind. "God, your word says…you can’t do that…" His clout was the word of God. He reminded God of what he said in his word, because he knew He was just.

Illustration:– Remember Moses/ten commands/people/orgy/golden calf – God – "I am going to destroy them and start with you…" Moses said what? Where am I going to find enough time to bury them all? Wait, I have friends down there? No – "What will Egypt say about you – take me instead!" That’s when you really are an intercessor. To often were like the prophet who said, “here am I God, take Rob…no J/K. Send ME! When we have such a burden that we pray like Paul - to be accursed for the whole nations sake. Key - Praying in the authroity of GOd and his word.

? – why so poor in prayer – 1 – we don’t feel what he feels, and 2 – we don’t know who he really is and ask accordingly – James 4:3 – You have not because you ask not or you ask with wrong motives…” OUR PRAYERS SOUND TOO MUCH LIKE A CHOIR WARMING UP – ME, ME, ME!

Illustration: – Acts4 –Peter and John told- don’t preach – what did they do – went back and said, "God, you told us to do this – now step in'" and they quoted Psalms 2 to God –Then what? The room was filled with power, shaken, and they spoke with more boldness then ever. ? – Can you quote Psalms to God? Do you? This is what separates the mighty in prayer and the one with just shopping list prayers.

Note 2: Remember this about prayer: Sometimes Gods answers are -

Denied – Have you ever thanked God for unanswered prayer? Howard Hendricks tells a story of a woman who was praying for her daughter to marry him - and he daily thanked God for unanswered or denied prayers. Have you ever thought back on what you've prayed about and are now so thankful God didn't answer those requests

Delayed – George Muller – 6 friends he prayed for to be saved – one was saved 5years later/2-10 years later/1-25years later/1 @ Muller's death/1- months after death. sometimes our answers are delayed

Disguised – How about Paul who wanted to go to Rome – he got there, just not the way you thought he would, but would he have been as much of a witness? I don't think so.

Lady prayed for her boy to be a preacher, but he didn’t yet when he died he left money to help students at Kentucky Theological Seminary- She prayed for one boy to be a preacher and got thousands.

3) Method of Prayer

Seen so far -

Our Authority – knowledge of Gods character – that's our leverage

Our Force behind – God’s sovereignty that places the passion, position and pressure on us to pray and we do!

Now - the Method – tenacity – stay after it.

Illustration –My baby wanting drink – I didn't go at the first cry, was it real or sleep talking so I waited, waited, and then when they really were into it, I would leap to the rescue and daddy was so great. Truth be told, I knew it was more than just a want, it was a need. God wants to know is this your passion or are you sleep talking.

Look at this with me, unless you think it was wrong of Abraham to be so strong in his approach – Who said this – Isaiah 62:6-7 “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest…” God said it! He wants us to have tenacity in our prayers. You know who taught more on the tenacity of prayer than anyone else?– Jesus – In the parabel of Luke 11 Man – friend – give me bread – No – “I tell you, though he will not get…yet for his persistence, he will rise and give him what he needs…” Woman – Luke 18 – Judge who is sovereign – “yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice…”

Our problem In prayer is that we get passionate about a few things, and he wants to enlarge our circle. WE REALLY ONLY LIKE TO PRAY ABOUT US – WE GET REAL PASSIONATE ABOUT THE END OF THE MONTH AND THE $ IS GONE, OR WHEN THE KIDS ARE SICK…MAN WE CRY OUT! God understands, but God would say – "ok, that's good, now how about your neighbor who is lost…"

? – do you know why a tenacious man prays tenaciously? He is so impassioned for the reputation of God, his will, his program, and his people he has to pray.

? – What are you praying about now?

Do you want to be mighty for God – get off your blessed assurance and pray – and be willing to be used by God

Close with this Illustration: Ship broke down in North Atlantic – coasted into the shores of Canada during (WW2). fearing for their live they sent a radio signal out – please help – no fresh water, no engine, men dehydrated, drifting in a current that is keeping us out here! Shore sent no help, just this signal back – “Lower your buckets” They didn’t realize they had drifted into the current of the St. Lawrence River and fresh water. MANY OF US ARE LIKE – God HELP! We are so needy, please help!!! – God says – Lower your buckets. the men on the boat couldn’t see the water cause of the bigness of the ocean – You may not see a way out because God seems so big, but he says, lower your bucket – you have not, because you ask not…

What has he pressured or passionately persuaded you to be praying for today - now you know the Authority on which you can pray - Jesus and the Word of God; the Force behind Prayer - God; and the Method- Don't quit - keep praying until he answers.

Nate OUT

Hospitality in the Wonderful Life. Gen. 18:1-15

There are two kinds of people in this text that I want to look at today:

The Believer/the doubter; the God-made saint/the self-made man; The Hospitable one/the materialistic one. Lets look at the text and you work at seeing which is which…

¹ The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. ² He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.

³ “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. ⁴ Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet. ⁵ And since you’ve honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey.” “All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get three large measures (15qts) of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread.” ⁷ Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. ⁸ When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees.

⁹ “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors asked.

“She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied.

¹⁰ Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”

Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. ¹² So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh.”

But the Lord said, “No, you did laugh.”

In 2 Chronicals, Isaiah and James 2 Abraham is called something I want us desperately to remember – here it is, the friend of God. Only a few can take claim to this in the scriptures. Jesus called Lazarus a friend, and the disciples were his friends, and in a redeemed way, the believer is the friend of Jesus, but only of Abraham was it said – “the friend of El Shaddai. NOTE – Friendship involves MINISTRY…in this chapter, we see three ways Abraham ministered to people that were friends…He ministered to his nephew – Lot, (Later on); He ministered to His wife – and he ministered to God. That’s the one I want to start with…

1) Abrahams Ministry to God. Vv 1-8

Verse: Col. 3:23-24 - 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. 25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites…

Story – Heat of the day; rest time in the orient; to hot to travel during this time of the day…siesta time. Abraham sees 3 men he doesn’t know walking the road when no one else is out…He is courious and courteous as well. HE KNEW HOSPITALITY WAS IMPORTANT. We need to talk about that area – verses – Romans 12:13 – “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” 1 Timothy 3:2 – “…He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach…” Titus 1:8 – “8 Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good…” and 1PT 4:9 – “Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay…” The Greek for the Word there is “PHILONEXIA” (fill-on-ee’-oh) which means to be entertaining strangers and guest. Abraham, the believer, teaches us a valuable lesson about hospitality in ministry. Notice:

1) His ministry was personal – he served the Lord personally (verse 2) – when you an I say we are part of a ministry we need to understand that it is more than just attendance. This wasn’t attendance here – this was a 99 yr old prince/sheik, getting up, running, bowing down, and getting lunch ready to serve to his guest…it was deeply personal.

? – Are you personally vested in serving him?

Illustration – Levels of imitative – wait to be told; ask what to do and check back; ask what to do and check back only frequently; see the need before your ask to do it and do it with out telling anyone….which one are you?

2) He served immediately! Men of faith do not delay when it comes to serving the Lord.

? – When you know it’s God asking you to do something – are you doing it immediately? Abraham did it right then – no delays.

3) He served speedily (vv 2-8) Notice – circle theses words… ? – when did he stand still? Answer – when he was done serving…when he had given his best…

Illustration – Have you ever gotten to the point of exhaustion with your work for God?

2 ladies I know – Tammy – I’ve done my time…not very well liked – Laura – Bad Back, went on two missions trips, no kids in HS, but still serves, steel rod in back, still plays the piano beautifully…Husband doesn’t come – she is faithful to exhaustion…

4) He ministered with Humility – He knew all that he had was given by this very special guest….Listen, he was a sheik, a powerful warlord, a man of means, a man who had hundreds of servants who had children of there own, He was a boss man. What do we see him doing? He BOWS, HE RUNS, HE COOKS (Making yogurt isn’t easy), He STANDS AT A DISTANCE WHILE THEY EAT HIS FOOD at HIS TENTS…very humble. Here is what gets me – he stopped everything to help them…he didn’t know at first it was the Lord…he just thought it best to treat everyone like they were the Lord…Hebrews 13 – “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” SOME OF US WOULD NEVER DO THAT! I am afraid that our pride would keep us from being used by God…

5) He ministered with the help of others – (vv. 1-8) Some of you are really good at leading people…just be sure its in the right directions…you may think you’re a good leader, but you may just be a fool. What if we get to the end of it all and we realize that God wasn’t in what we were doing? Then what? THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS THAT SUFFER ON THE ALTAR OF PRIDE…THEN THE WORK OF GOD GOES STALE BECAUSE YOU CANT TAKE DIRECTION, YOU CANT WORK TOGETHER, YOU CANT BE HOSPITABLE.

Illustration – when I joined boot camp I was the oldest guy there – and I was the only one with facial hair. I had college experience, I had a D1scholarship for sports, I had to quickly learn it wasn’t about me…it was about the team. Together everyone achieved and made it out – and we did. I was lead by a 18 year old high school jock from Texas – and when we worked together we were unstoppable. We left boot with all 78 recruits, all the awards for our battalion, and the highest honors they could give a group do you know how miserable it would have been if I would have been the odd man out on this?

2) He ministers to his wife – she’s the doubter. (vv9-15) Now God reveals his visit with great news – It’s baby time! People with a pride issue question the impossible! What was here problem:

a) she couldn’t see beyond the obvious to the impossible…”

Illustration: Phrases from today, she would have said:

· Don’t see that happening

· Not gonna happen in this lifetime

· When Hell freezes over

· I’m just being realistic

She goes with – I’m too old and now I will have pleasure again? Parts weren’t working – means what it says…close the tent, go behind the sand dune…”

b) She never allowed herself to be pushed to the impossible by God…she always had an excuse, or tried to fix it her way.

God was here to give them good news – after 25 years of doing it their way, he was going to do the impossible – again. Abraham and Sarah tried Lot/Eleazar/ and Ishmael – now God was giving them a son.

Here is what I have been praying about for a week – you guys need to understand the impossible God. See that verse – Is anything to hard, impossible, wonderful for God? How do you answer? Yet you live like somethings are impossible for him.. There is no way he can heal your love life, your marriage, your joblessness, your overworked status, your pain, your hurt, your lack of love, your lack of discipline, your lack of blah, blah, blah – but he can. There is nothing to wonderful for God not to handle, nothing to hard for him not to handle. It’s the word – PELE’ David uses it in Psalm 139 – This is to wonderful for me; Isaiah 9:6 of Jesus – his name shall be called – Pele – wonderful….To Samson’s parents – what is your name – it is too wonderful to tell you… God is El Shaddi – the God of the impossible – NOTHING is to hard for him. Stop living like it is.

Some of you don’t believe it – hospitality wise – God, it’s my last 10 – I cant give it, how will I get my mocha –frappe’; God it’s my last two liter – why should I take it; God I know Nate said, “don’t eat before you come, but if I stop at McDonalds, then bring it, I won’t have to try to be hospitable…you understand right God…Oh, to close to home – you don’t believe in the impossible if you cant be part of a ministry that God is working in, (150kids), and you cant set your pride down long enough to realize that God is huge dude – huge and he won’t let you down ever. Some of you aren’t giving, aren’t trying, and you have the mistaken Idea that we are all blessed because you are here with us and you’ve missed it –

What do I mean – God put you in a positions. If you are a believer, you are the temple of God, the salt, the light, your lips make up Gods call to the world, you are the visible picture of God in this life. How – PELE’ he did the impossible, and he does it everyday – Abraham, David, Matthew…

MEN COME TO JESUS BY LOOKING AT YOU! Who did Jesus scold the most – the disciples – men of little faith. Why? to make them stronger in the faith - the end result - the gospel to the world.

? – So - what would he say to you? Is anything to hard for me – you’ll never know if you don’t try him…If the God of the impossible is calling you to do it - do it and he will provide all that you need to complete it...VERSES - He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it...(aka - see father Abraham)

It was there all the time

Ravi Zacharias shares in his book "Jesus Among Other god's" this story:

"As I mentioned previously, Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air relates the hazards that plagued the climbers in their expedition to Mt. Everest during the spring of 1996. That year, the attempt to reach the summit resulted in a great loss of life. Some circumstances were out of their control, but fundamental mistakes cost them dearly. And some of those were unfortunately made while still within reach of solutions.
One of those whose life was lost was Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders. Harris had stayed at the peak past the deadline that the leaders themselves had set. On his descent, he became in dire need of oxygen. Harris radioed his predicament to the base camp, telling of his need and that he had come upon a cache of oxygen canisters left by other climbers, all empty. Those who had already passed by the canisters on their own return from the summit know that they were not empty, but full. Even as they pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them, it was to no avail. Already starved for oxygen, Harris continued to argue that the canisters were empty.
The problem was that the lack of what he needed son disoriented his mind that though he was surrounded by a restoring supply he continued to complain of its absence. The very thing he held in his hand was absent in his brain and ravaged his capacity to recognize what he was clutching in his grasp.
What oxygen is to the body, the Bread of Life is to the soul Without that bread, all other hungers will be improperly perceived. In fact, in like manner, the absence of that bread over a prolonged period makes the bread itself seem worthless. Life is meant to be lived with the fulfillment of the one need that defines all other means of fulfillment and the one love that defines all other loves...Jesus..."

I love this illustration. Sometimes we hold the very word of God in our hands, yet it is often absent from the brain, the soul and the heart. We hunger, yet the absence of the word of God over a prolonged period of time makes it seem worthless to us, yet to those who have tasted, it is "hidden manna" to our souls