May 11 - Prayer - Questions/Comments - Verses

May 11

Heavenly Father, how often do we desire to push ahead to the future thinking things will be better tomorrow only to discover tomorrow is just as stressful and sometimes more so? I remember when I was younger wanting time to pass so I could get where things would be quieter, simpler, maybe even easier. When will I learn that life isn't supposed to be easy. As a matter of fact if I'm living for You I can count on satan being in my face causing me problems. If life is "easy" that probably is an indicator I'm not doing what God wants me to do and satan is not bothering me because I'm not bothering him.

Help me realize that life is full of difficult decisions and tough scenarios, but no matter what I face, I can get through it with You. You are all I need to face any day, good or bad. No matter what my emotions tell me, I can count on You to help me see the truth, and help guide me through any situation, even those I make a mess of for myself.

Thank You Father for loving me so much that You will never leave my side. Thank You for giving me Your love, Your guidance, Your joy, Your grace and Your mercy. You give me more things than I can begin to list here, the best of which is Your Son.

In Jesus' name.

Amen!

Why do you think God put Abram to sleep to make this covenant?

Not everything he promised Abram was something he probably wanted to hear. His descendants were going to spend many years as slaves and then as travelers looking for the promised land.

How would you feel if you were told your descendants would end without a country for many generations?

God showed Abram how many descendants he would have by showing him the many stars in the sky. Do you think Abram was able to comprehend what God was going to do through him and his descendants?

May 11 – Genesis 15:1-21

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”