“When Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God almighty, walk before me and be blameless that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly.’ Then Abram fell on his face.”
– Genesis 17:1–3
A couple of things I want to point out in these opening verses to Genesis 17 and lead us to pray according to. God comes to Abram and says, “I am God almighty. Walk before me and be blameless.” Be blameless, that’s the command that God gives to Abram, “Be blameless, above reproach. Glorify me as God almighty in your life. Walk with me in faithfulness to me, in enjoyment of me.” Remember, God is giving this command to Abram like every single command that comes from God for Abram’s good.
Walking in Communion with God
In order to experience the blessings of God’s covenant, Abram was called into communion with God.
In the same way, God gives us commands not for our bad. He never commands us for our bad. He always commands us for our good that being blameless, free from sin, walking before God in holiness this is good. “That,” verse two, “I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly.” See the picture here, God has desire to bless Abram. And I just want you to feel that reality in your life today because it’s the same thing. I could go all over scripture and show it for all who trust in God, for all who know him, you’re in relationship with him through faith in Jesus. Yes, God desires to bless you. God desires to show grace and mercy and love towards you. God desires your good.
Genesis 17:1–3 Calls Christians to Posture their Hearts toward God
So how do you experience this good? Walk before him and be blameless and the beauty of what Jesus has done in his death on a cross, resurrection from the grave, his ascension to heaven, his pouring out the Holy Spirit who now lives in us. We have his power in us to be blameless. The one who has conquered sin lives in you and me today to walk before him and be blameless by his power in us.
So just as Abram fell on his face when God said this to him. Let’s fall on our faces if it’s appropriate for you now even to fall on your face. If you’re driving a car obviously, or wherever you might be, or you’re not able to do that just in your heart, the posture of your heart let’s just fall before God and say together based on Genesis 17, verses one through three, Oh God, you are indeed God almighty. You are all powerful, all loving, all merciful, all just, all wise. God, we praise you as the lord and king over all creation and our lord and king. And we pray today, we want to walk before you and be blameless.
Genesis 17:1–3 Desires Actions that Reflect God’s Character
God, I pray that over every single person right now that you would help us to be blameless today, above reproach, God in everything we think and everything we desire and everything we say or write. God in every thought, every motive, every action, everything we do God help us to be blameless, help us to reflect your holy character. We pray this for our good. God, we pray this knowing you desire our good, that it’s not wrong to seek our good when you’re the one seeking our good. We praise you for your commands that are good. So we pray you would help us to live in them today in covenant relationship with you in even greater ways than Abram experienced because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and his life in us right now.
Jesus ,we pray cause your life to be our life today. Help us to live fully in you. We fall on our faces. We bow our heads and our hearts before you God almighty and we pray that you’d help us to walk before you and be blameless today that we might walk in deep relationship with you the almighty God of the earth today. In Jesus’ name, we pray. And we say we want this today in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
