Abraham, My FriendThe Making of a Praying ManPreface:Every story has a purpose and my re-telling of this story has its purpose revealed in our sub-title. Abrahams life is rich in illustration of the purposes of God and the daily incidents of a pilgrim but our ultimate goal will be to identify elements in the life of Abraham which made possible this amazing testimony from God Himself; Abraham, My Friend. [Isaiah 41:8]There are many wonderful ways in which God describes His relationship with men and woman but this must be one of the most extraordinary; Abraham, My Friend. If Abraham had referred to God as my friend we might have thought that he was guilty of name-dropping; the way in which some folk try to derive significance by association. If I were to refer to Abraham, my friend I might lay myself open to that same accusation, but why should God refer to this man as My Friend?Perhaps there is an indication in the New Testament. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. [John 15:15] Friends become the carriers of unique, intimate, knowledge because they can be trusted. It almost takes the breath away to say it but it is a regular testimony of scripture that God trusted Abraham. Abraham himself is the archetype of the man who trusts God but Abraham, My Friend, is an indication of Gods reliance upon Abraham. It brings to mind many another scripture; I sought for a man to stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. [Ezek 22:30] Oh, what would He do if He could only find the right man? EM Bounds famous book, Power through Prayer, begins with the statement that the Men are Gods method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. In turn, that brings to mind the comment of Paul Billheimer Who knows what God would do for His servants if He dared?In Abraham, God found the kind of man He had looked for, a man who would become My Friend. He became Gods trusted agent, our man on earth through whom God would further His purpose. Not in ignorance, as some kind of automaton blindly following an instruction, but as My Friend. What God accomplishes on earth He will accomplish through His Friends. Christians love to say that God accomplishes wonderful things in spite of His servants. There is a truth in this statement but it ought not to blind us to the opposite and equally true statement that He accomplishes even more because of His servants. He will accomplish more through one trusted Friend than through a billion super-efficient tools. Men are Gods method.Prayer, of course, functions at many levels; it usually begins with a sense of dependence and need. The man or woman who does not pray is an atheist no matter what theology he subscribes to. He is also a fool; a word reserved, biblically, for those who leave God out of their reckoning. But prayer that remains at the level of personal need is still-born. The unique glory of the pray-er is that he has more than one friend; he has two. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? [Luke 11:5,6] Thats not one friend, but two. The pray-er is the living link between the Resource and the Need. If this chain is broken at either end the Resource and the Need remain separated; he must maintain living contact with both. There is valuable insight here. The pray-er is conscious of his own lack and inadequacy. He has nothing to set before him but the wonder is that he has access to another friend who has all necessary resources. Only by maintaining our links with both friends can be the channel of the blessing.It took the Quakers to remind us that Friends is a New Testament description of believers gathered in a local church. But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name. [3 John 1:14] As we regard the settings where God has placed us, how well are we functioning as Friends? The Church comes under a lot a legitimate criticism but we would be using our unique role to better purpose if we prayed for our Friends. If we know that they lack resources, we know where we can go to find an answer. It would doubtless have many spin-off blessings; double portions even. It is recorded that the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. [Job 42:10] Perhaps if we are seeking release and blessing our best route is to pray for our friends.The Greek word for friend (gk: philos) is a word of tenderness and companionship. It is a word which speaks of fellowship. The original Hebrew word for friend has another mood, (hb: ahab) it is the word for Lover. The Septuagint translators translated it not by philos but agapE giving something like Abraham, My Lover. It shocks us to read it. Gods love is not marked by faithful duty and companionship only, but by passion and exclusive personal commitment.We begin to sense the personal relationship that blossomed between God and man. If Abraham is a man characterised by his faith, his faith is characterised by his love; this is authentic faith, faith that worketh by love [Gal 5:6]. It was not from isolated experiences that Abraham was designated as Abraham, My Friend but from a continuing relationship that grew throughout a lifetime. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. It came not primarily from enormous crisis experiences characterised by giant leaps into the dark, but through the single steps of that faith of our father Abraham. [Rom 4:12]So it is with Abrahams children, we grow not by big bangs and heroic set-piece triumphs, but by daily obediences of love. Not by stage-managed performances in the public arena but in the secret places where only God is witness. For those who measure success by visible effects it is often a weary plodding existence, but for those who genuinely seek only to be approved unto God it holds the prospect that in some secret place, one day, God will say this is Abraham, My Friend
_________________Ron Bailey
Abraham's life is rich in illustration of the purposes of God and the daily incidents of a pilgrim but our ultimate goal will be to identify elements in the life of Abraham which made possible this amazing testimony from God Himself; Abraham, My Friend.
_________________Ron Halverson
It took the Quakers to remind us that Friends is a New Testament description of believers gathered in a local church.
_________________SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
Good job Ron. To more fully appreciate the significance of Abraham being called the "friend of God", an understanding of Blood Covenant is needed. A Blood Covenant is described as: " The most solemn, binding agreement possible between two parties". H. Clay Trumbull, who was a Presbyterian Chaplain during the American Civil War, wrote a book entitled" The Blood Covenant". The Encyclopedia Brittanica, recognized this book as the single source document for Blood Covenant.A Blood Covenant is also refered to as a covenant of " close friendship".Our western culture does'nt do well attempting to understand this concept.Understand, that the Bible was not originally given to white Anglo Saxon's. It was given by the Holy Spirit to holy men of old, who were oriental in race, language,and culture. That part of the world, which we would mostly consider today the 10-40 window are covenant cultures. They understand, practice, and take very seriously the covenant. A Blood Covenant is so binding, that if either party breaks the covenant, then the penalty is death. So, when God laid down the conditions of the covenant to Abraham in Genesis 17 " as for Me...." Abraham could have refused. The Bible says that Abraham believed God... .Another aspect of Blood covenant is that it is one of blessing. One side will try to out bless the other. Therefore, when one party does something that their covenant partner requests, then reciprocation is required. When Abraham took Issac up to Mt. Moriah to offer him as a sacrafice in obedience to his covenant partners request; God put himself in the position that when it came time to put His Son on the alter, He'd have to do it under the terms of the covenant, or cease being God. In His mercy, God didn't take His Son off the alter.In a taped sermon I recently heard,I enjoyed Ron's story about how his children got into the amusement park. They went in without paying, because the attendant saw Ron coming behind them with the fare. The same was with all those believers that came before Abraham got in on the covenant, because God saw Abraham coming after them with what it too to get in. Carrying this train of thought through to it's conclusion, Abraham, and ALL his spiritual decendants got in, because God looked past Abraham, and saw one greater than Abraham coming behind him, that had the price of admission. Jesus, not only the paid the price of admission for " whosoever will " come; but He also bought the park. When Jesus in John 15 said that He no longer called his disciples servants, but friends he was making covenant with them ,much as He had done with Abraham. The implication to me is, that a servant merely works for wages and has no inheritance in the profit of the kingdom. However,a friend, (or covenant partner) has entered into a covenant with the King, and has a place at the Kings table. ;-) Clutch
_________________Howard McNeill
Thanks Clutch.There are some interesting points here. We shall be coming onto to Covenant, and those 'self-imprecatory oaths' in a little while.
Thanks Ron,Looking forward to your company!
Thanks GregI find it difficult to be moderate in my estimate of the early Quakers. In my current home town of Reading UK, the authorities imprisoned all the adults of the Quaker meeting, and the children continued the meetings without them!