King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
Chapters: Genesis 25-26
Message: Importance Of Prayer
Hello My Friend,
The LORD’s Prayer, it does not matter what religion, they have all used one of these two verses in some way as their guide for how we are to pray to God every day. “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” – Matthew 6:9-13. “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” – Luke 11:2-4.
Personally, I quote Luke more than Matthew, but often it is a combination of the two because this is God’s kingdom. Whether or not we choose to believe that, He will do what He will with it, and that word temptation does not mean that God leads us into the temptation to sin, rather that He keeps us from walking into it in the first place. Prayer is essential if we want God to bless and keep us, you know, God sends the same rain on the just and the unjust, but He only sustains those who are His. God gives us the promise of eternal life through His Son without our lifting one finger, by praying and asking Him to save us upon our faith in Christ. If we want more than that we need to make an effort, remember, faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). As we continue reading from the Book of Genesis, Abraham is now a hundred and forty years old, Sarah died, and Isaac got married, he married another woman, Keturah, with whom by the way, he had many more children.
“Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.” – Genesis 25:1-11.
“All these were the children of Keturah.” Notice that these children are not given the title of Abraham’s children. This was because, other than Isaac, these were children of God promising that He would bless him with many children, but they were not the children of promise, meaning God’s covenant was with Abraham and Sarah’s child. “and sent them away from Isaac his son,” Abraham knew that these, and you will see why as you read through the history of Israel, needed to be separated from Isaac. God always separates His people from those who would hinder or separate them from Him, even if it is our own family. “after the death of Abraham,” Do you see how God waited until Abraham separated them and after he died that God blessed Isaac? How did He bless them? First, with children. Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years, but they had not had any children yet, in fact, Abraham died before he saw his first grandchildren. Isaac prays for God to open Rebekah’s womb, and God granted his request, but also has a request for him.
“And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” – Genesis 25:20-23.
“And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife,” Intreat; entreat; to ask or to intercede on the behalf of someone else. When we pray to God, it is actually Jesus who intercedes our prayers, and takes them to the Father for us (Romans 8:27,34). “and the LORD was intreated of him,” God hears our prayers only when we ask them in the name of Jesus (John 14:12-14). “And she went to enquire of the LORD.” Remember, it is okay to ask God why, and if He chooses to give us the answer He will. “Two nations are in thy womb,” These two children would become the nation of Edom (Esau) and Israel (Jacob), and they will fight, pretty much all their days of existence, in fact, you will see that God has a hatred for Edom because one, he despised his birthright, and he wanted nothing to do with God. Genesis gives the account of Esau selling his birthright.
“And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.” – Genesis 25:27-34.
“therefore was his name called Edom.” For a bowl of soup, Esau gave up his birthright, which is what Edom means, red, being the red pottage (soup). His descendants were called Edomites, and Edom was also called Mount Seir and Idumea. “and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” Esau could not see value in being the first born, this act of carelessness not only proved to God that he had no intention of following Him, it also would bring a hatred between the two families, so much so that God would destroy it (Romans 9:10-16). We must understand that if we want God’s blessings, we need to follow His instructions. Keep in mind that the only reason why God does bless His people, is not because we are so perfect that we deserve it as we are sinners, it is because of His promise to us. God sent a famine in the land, one in which Isaac found himself making the same mistakes as his father did. It was during this trial that God spoke to him and reminded him that He made a promise to his father that He will fulfill through him.
“And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.” – Genesis 26:1-5,12-14.
“and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.” We must realize that God does not keep His promises to us based on our works, He does them because He never goes back on His promises. No matter how good we try to be, we are mess, we do not always have a perfect heart for God. God knows this, and that is why He promises that if we believe in and accept His Son, we will be His forever and will never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). “and received in the same year an hundredfold:” This is why prayer is so invaluable. And the key to God hearing every prayer is our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Yes, for the sake of the promise He made to all who believe in His Son, He grants our requests, starting with our salvation. “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” – John 14:13-14. Amen!
Today’s Prayer: God, It is no doubt that prayer is invaluable to those who believe in You, by faith, and acknowledge Your Son as our Saviour. We are instantly granted not only salvation, but the ability to have one on one communication with You. By faith, we know that nothing is impossible with You, Lord, help us to always see past our circumstances and trust Your hand in all that we are going through, open our hearts to speak to You sincerely, and let us never doubt or tempt You for You truly do hear every prayer when we come to You sincerely, and by faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus Missions: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2020 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.