The Lord Gives More That We Ask!

12th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/15/10
Genesis 15:1-6


The Lord Gives More Than We Ask!
I. He uses almighty power.
II. He offers his astounding grace.


I imagine you’ve heard the saying, “You can’t out-give God.” And when you think about it, it’s true. Everything you have comes from him. Even the gifts you give to others or the things you provide for your children come from him. And those are just the earthly things. Most importantly he gave his Son, sacrificing him for us on Calvary’s cross. That’s a gift we’d never be able to give others. Indeed, you can’t out-give God.

But can you out-pray him? At times it might seem so. We pray for him to do something critical and difficult. We pray for him to miraculously heal our loved one who is stricken with incurable cancer, but it doesn’t happen. Did we out-pray God? We make a mess of our lives and we pray for God to help us make it better right away, but the mess continues. We continue to struggle day after day. Did we out-pray God?

We wouldn’t ask that question if we recalled just how giving and how powerful our God reveals himself to be in his word. The truth is that he often blesses us far beyond what we even realize. He blesses us with gifts worth far more than the things we ask him for.

We see that truth in this morning’s text as the Lord deals with his faithful servant Abraham, who at this point in his life is still known as Abram. Abram had some issues weighing heavily on his heart. The Lord addressed those issues in ways far beyond what Abram was considering. But that’s what our God does. The Lord gives more than we ask. If you wonder if that statement is really true for you, then join with me in studying this account before us this morning.

Part I.

Have you ever entered a conversation occurring among a group of people at mid-point? We’ve all had that experience. Two people are speaking about a particular subject and their experiences and you step in but only with one foot. That’s because you’ve missed everything that was said up to that point and so you’re at a disadvantage.

That same thing occurs with you and me as we read the opening verses of our text. It says, “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’” The Lord doesn’t greet Abram by saying, “Hello” or “How’s it going, Abram?” He greets him with the encouragement, “Do not be afraid.” Why was he afraid? We’ve entered the conversation at mid-point.

To understand what’s going on in Abram’s life, you have to know what Abram had just faced. Chapter 14 of Genesis is not one of the most well-known portions of the Bible. Abram lived in the Holy Land, which at this time was comprised of many small city-states. The land was dotted with cities that had walls around them, each ruled by a king. The un-walled villages around each walled city were part of that city-state. These kings would ally themselves with each other in a particular area for support against other kings and their alliances.

Chapter 14 begins by informing us that 4 such kings from the north came and attacked 5 the kings who ruled in the area where Abram was living. And the 4 kings from the north won. Abram himself was unscathed, but his nephew, Lot, was captured along with all the other people of those 5 cities and their possessions.

Abram went to their rescue. He took 318 of his servants and made a surprise attack on the 4 kings and recaptured Lot and all the other people and their possessions. It was a tremendous victory obviously accomplished with the blessing of the Lord.

That’s what had just happened. So why would Abram be afraid? Well, might the 4 kings or the people they ruled in the north seek revenge on Abram in the future? Abram was a nomad. He had no city walls to protect him and he didn’t have an alliance with any other kings. He was afraid.

What’s more, these 5 kings were living in the land that the Lord had promised to his descendants. Perhaps he was fearful that this promise wouldn’t be fulfilled or that his descendants would have to contend with warring nations.

And all these thoughts about the land being promised to his descendants led to his biggest fear—he had no heir. He and his wife were childless and they weren’t getting any younger. Abram was somewhere between 75 and 85 years old and Sarah was 10 years younger. He had no one to inherit his possessions and live in this land after him. Worst of all, he knew that the Lord had promised to send the Savior through him. That couldn’t happen unless he had a child. He was afraid.

And notice what the Lord does. He doesn’t just speak to Abram. Like the best Teacher that he is, he takes Abram outside his tent and tells him, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be.” Abram wants just one descendant. The Lord assures him that his descendants would be innumerable.

Abram wants a little earthly security. The almighty Lord assures him that he is his shield. Abram wants a descendant. The almighty Lord answers with countless descendants.

The Lord gives more than we ask. He uses his almighty power.

It might seem hard for us to see ourselves in Abram’s place. We aren’t threatened by the neighboring kings. We’re not concerned about having an heir who will inhabit the land and from whom the Savior will be born. But we have our fears. All sorts of them. Daily. If we’re not fearing for our health, we’re fearing for our wealth or the lack of it. We fear for our children or another relative. We fear for our jobs. And we pray about these things. We ask our God to help us and to give us the things that we think we need, but sometimes—maybe often—those things don’t happen. And our trust level in our God takes a hit or we become angry with God. Why doesn’t he use his almighty power to help and protect us as he did with Abram? And the answer is, “He does and in far greater ways than we imagine.” We so quickly forget that it was the almighty power of God that supplied our greatest need—our forgiveness and salvation. We forget the almighty power he displayed from Christ’s virgin birth to his triumphant resurrection. God did those things for you and me. And he uses his almighty power daily to protect you from Satan and all his evil angels who battle to bring your body and soul to eternal hell. Do you ask him to do that for you? The Lord gives more than we ask. He uses his almighty power.

Part II.

I had an English literature professor who encouraged his students to end their 500 word theme papers with what he called a “purple passage.” In other words, he wanted that last sentence of the paper to be a real gem that would nicely bring the paper to a close.

Did you notice the purple passage at the end of our text? If not, listen to it again. “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” It’s a short sentence but it’s one of the most important sentences in the Bible. It tells us how Abram was saved.

You see, many of Abram’s countless descendants missed the point of this passage, the Pharisees being the most well-known of them. They thought they were acceptable to God because they were Jews who kept the laws God prescribed in the Old Testament. They felt they were so good that God couldn’t help but let them into heaven when they died. But they were dead wrong. That’s not the way Abram, their greatest ancestor, was saved.

As great a man as Abram was, he was still a sinner like you and me. He lied about his wife—denying that she was his wife—to save his own skin. And he did it twice. He failed to take God at his word and took matters into his own hands and fathered a child by his wife’s servant, Hagar. He had his daily worries and fears. He was a sinner and his sins condemned him to hell just as ours condemn us.

But notice what the passage says. He believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness. St. Paul makes use of this passage to point out that Abraham was saved by faith, not by works. He believed God’s promise to him that one of his descendants would be the Savior of the world. On the basis of that faith, God pronounced him righteous, holy, forgiven. We call that justification. God declares the sinner holy and that holiness becomes ours by faith in Jesus. That’s the greatest truth of Christianity. We do nothing and God gives us the greatest gift. We can’t do anything and God still gives us the greatest gift.

That’s what the Bible calls grace. Abram didn’t deserve anything good from God. Instead, he deserved to be punished for his sins. But God justified him by his faith in the Savior who would come from his own body.

The Lord gives more than we ask. He offers his astounding grace.

In so much of life, we just want what should come to us. We work hard as athletes or musicians, and we just want to have the position we think we deserve. We work hard at school and we just want the grade we think we deserve. We work hard at our jobs or our marriages and we just want what we think we deserve. We try to take care of ourselves, so we think we deserve good health. That’s the way we think. And in many respects in this life, that’s the way it works.

But it never works that way with our God. Unfortunately, we often think it does. We’re convinced that God isn’t giving us a fair shake. Be glad he doesn’t friend, or you and I and all the rest of us would face eternal hell. Instead, he showers us with his grace, his astounding grace! If you doubt that at times, just look to the cross of Christ. There is his grace in human flesh and blood suffering for our sins so that we can enjoy glory everlasting in heaven. It makes no sense, but that’s the grace of God. He showed it to Abram, even though Abram didn’t ask for it. He does the same for us. He gives us more than we ask. Realize it and praise him for it! Amen.