I Want to Believe Like Abraham

“I Want to Believe Like Abraham”
by Pastor Kent Munsey
January 31, 2021

Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living and committed to seeking God.

Ponder the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were dug. Yes, ponder Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who bore you. Think of it! One solitary man when I called him, but once I blessed him, he multiplied.

• Isaiah 51:1-3 (MSG)

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great,  and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

• Genesis 12:1-4 (MSG)

Abraham is the father of our faith. He is the man that God chose to bless, and through Abraham, all the nations of the earth are blessed. There is a lot to be learned from Abraham. Through Abraham’s example, we see that it is never too late to hear from God. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, you’ve never committed too much sin to disqualify you from hearing from God. 

Here are four things we can learn from Abraham: 

1. Abraham heard from God. 

God is often more willing to speak than we are to listen. If we are going to experience God relationally, serve him, and build a life in him, then we have to develop our relationship with him. No greater relationship in our life deserves our time and attention. God desires a relationship with us, and we cannot have a relationship with him unless we connect and communicate. 

Relationships are often about proximity. When we draw near to God, he draws near to us. Abraham met with God. He had appointments with God. God wants to speak to us, to hear from us, and to develop a relationship with us. Through Jesus, we have access to God, our father. If we want to be people that God can use, that God can bless, then we have to develop our relationship with him. Our ability to hear God is in direct connection to our proximity to God. Are we reciprocating time, trust, and clarity when it comes to our relationship with God? God wants to hear us, but he also wants to be heard. We have to sow where we want to grow. If there are relationships that we want to grow, we have to sow into them-- seeds of time and intention. Abraham could hear God because he had the desire to know God and to be in a relationship with God. 

2. Abraham believed God. 

When God spoke, Abraham believed God. It’s hard to believe what God says until we have fully bought into who he is. When we have fully bought into who God is and we know him and trust him, then it’s easier to believe what he says. Abraham heard God because he had a relationship with God, and he believed God because he had a relationship with him. There comes a time in every person’s life where they have to leave their place of present blessing to receive their future promise. Abraham left his family’s home and stepped out in faith, and he left because he believed God’s word to be true. There comes a point in all of our lives when we have to sacrifice all that we are for all that we could be. There has to be a divine denunciation of present blessing for future promise. For the church of Jesus Christ, there is more in-store, but we have to learn to hear God’s voice, we have to believe God’s word. The Bible says that those who hear God are sons and daughters of God. The Holy Spirit affirms God’s voice. God will speak to us once he has established a relationship with us. He will give us dreams and visions, and he will make plain and simple the message that he has for us. 

3. Abraham acted on God’s word. 

Simon Peter developed his relationship with Jesus and set himself apart from the other disciples because he pondered the life of Abraham. Abraham would hear from God, and then the next day do what God told him to do. Abraham acted on God's word. Let’s not just be hearers of God’s word but doers also. Let’s be people who step out in faith-- people who see a need and meet it, see a hurt and heal it. If we are willing to step out in faith, then God will be willing to show up in our lives. Peter stepped out of the boat in faith. If Peter hadn’t stepped out of the boat, he might have never stepped out on the day of Pentecost to declare who God was. Abraham knew what it was to hear God and to act on God’s word. 

4. Focus on finishing. 

In Philippians 3, Paul says he presses on to apprehend that which he was apprehended for. Often God gives us a glimpse of our future, our purpose, or our mission. He wants us to step out and stay focused on him because he is the one who is leading and guiding our steps. Are we willing to go all the way with God, like Paul was (Phil. 3:10-11, MSG)? The enemy can’t stop us, so he’ll try to distract us or discourage us through pain. He’ll try to keep us from focusing on the future that God has for us. 

The promise extended to Abraham was extended first to his father, Tara. Tara had heard God, believed God and followed God, but then he became bitter. He allowed the pain of his past, the disappointment of the loss, the bitterness in his heart to take his focus off of God. He died in the place of relational pain, serving other gods. 

There’s a lot of pain and suffering in this life, and it’s easy to get caught up in what we believe should have happened or shouldn’t have happened. We live in a world where sin and death reign, and pain and suffering are a certainty, but there is a good and faithful God, and he wants to be in a personal relationship with us.  There’s a whole lot more that’s right about God than what’s wrong in the world. We need to focus on what’s right about God--to look up. It’s easy to look around and see everything that’s wrong, but when we look up we can see a God that’s for us, not against us. If we’re not careful, we will deceive ourselves by breaking our focus from what God has said. Often the enemy creeps into our lives by distracting us from what God wants to do in our lives, even if we’re choosing what seems to be good. The Bible says that when we seek first the kingdom of God, then all these  things will be added to us--it’s about priority. We have to keep our focus on God so that we can complete our purpose and the mission that he has for us.

Reflection/Discussion Questions:

1. When was the last time you heard God speak?

2. When you hear God speak, are you willing to step out in faith to follow it? 

3. Are you putting God first in your life in this season? 

4. What is taking your focus off of your relationship with God? 

5. How can you re-prioritize your relationship with him?