Before we read the text for today and pray according to it, I just want to mention the Bible reading plan that Pray the Word is following at this point.
We’ve used in the past different Bible reading plans, and the one that we’re following right now is called Read Scripture. So if you want to follow along with more extensive reading than just this verse or a couple of verses that we pray according to, I invite you to do that. You can download the Read Scripture app. It’s super-helpful.
It basically walks through, over the course of a year’s time, the entire Bible. Our church family is walking through that together right now. And it pretty much follows the story of Scripture, with some Psalms along the way and other Wisdom Literature. Right now it’s in Genesis and Psalms.
So I would just encourage you, if you don’t have a Bible reading plan that’s beyond just hopefully this podcast helping you, I would encourage you to have an intentional way to read through the Bible. And if you want to do that through the Read Scripture app, you can download that, follow along, and Pray the Word will track with it.
I should mention that Read Scripture also has a lot of really helpful videos that they’ve partnered together with the BibleProject and BibleDojo. It’s just really helpful for all ages, including the next generation.
So anyway, with all that said, today’s text.
Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me. Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. Abraham went, took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. As it is said to this day on the Mount of the Lord, it shall be provided.
– Genesis 22:12–14
Oh, there’s so much here.
And I just want to pray through these verses and different things that come up along the way in them. This is part of what I find myself doing in my time alone with the Lord, just reading and just praying as different things come up as you read verse after verse after verse. So let’s pray together based on Genesis 22:12–14.
Genesis 22:12–14 challenges us to trust God with what matters most.
O God, we pray for a kind of faith like Abraham here who feared you and was willing to do whatever you called him to do. God, I pray for that kind of faith in me and every single person listening right now.
Help us to fear you, revere you, trust you, hold nothing back from you, to surrender every facet of our lives to you. Everything that is precious to us in this world, this repetition of the phrase “your son,” your only son, the son of promise, the son he’d waited for. We praise you for Abraham’s willingness to trust you with whatever you told him to do. God, may it be so in our lives.
Help us to do all you call us to do without hesitation, without question, because we trust you and we fear you. And we praise you, God, for your faithfulness to provide for us, ultimately for sending your Son, your only Son to die on a cross instead of us, to pay the price we deserve to pay for our sin.
God, we praise you, for now this story points us to Jesus and your provision, The Lord Will Provide. This is the story of all of Scripture, and it’s the story of our lives. God, we praise you for your provision and we trust in your provision.
Genesis 22:12–14 assures us of God’s day-to-day provision.
O God, we praise you for your salvation, your provision, for our salvation, for all of eternity. All glory be to your name, all glory be to your name, Jesus, for paying the price for our sins.
And God, with whatever we need today, help us to trust you to provide the peace we need, the strength we need, the wisdom we need, the courage we need, the help we need, the freedom we need from fear or worry.
O God, we praise you, Philippians 4:19, that you will supply all our needs according to the glorious riches we have in Christ Jesus, your Son, your only Son.
And we look back in our lives and we praise you for the places and times you have provided so faithfully for everything we’ve needed. We trust you today. We trust you for tomorrow that your provision will always be sufficient for us, no matter what we find ourselves walking through.
Prayer for the Central Tibetan People
O God, as we pray through this passage, we pray specifically for the Central Tibetan people of China. O God, we intercede for this people group, over a million strong, who don’t know the good news of your love in giving your Son, your only Son for their salvation.
God, we pray that the Central Tibetan people of China would be reached with the good news of your grace and your love for them. God, we pray that you would use our lives to make your provision in the gospel known, our resources to make your provision known to them, that they might be saved.
O God, we pray all of this according to your Word, which we love in Genesis 22. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
