Count the Stars

Abram’s First Prayer

Book of Genesis

Genesis 15:1–21

Big idea: Bring God your doubts. He’ll bring you His promise.

Underline in your Bible:

Genesis 15:5, “tell the stars”

Genesis 15:17, “passed between those pieces”

Prayer Is Hard, Even for Faithful People

Many people who read their Bibles and obey God still struggle to pray.

We don’t know what to say.

Our prayers come out polished, and a little fake.

We pray around what we’re really feeling.

Abram obeyed God for three chapters. God spoke to him again and again, but the Bible never records Abram speaking back.

Genesis 15 gives us Abram’s first recorded prayer. And it isn’t a praise. It’s a doubt.

What do we learn when Abram begins to talk to God?

Two Kinds of Doubt

Doubt that : “God, I don’t believe You.”denies

Doubt that : “God, I want to believe You. Help me see it.”desires

Abram’s first prayer is the second kind.

1. “What wilt thou give me?” God gives Himself and His promise. (vv. 1–6)

God speaks to our fear (v. 1)

Genesis 15:1 “1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”

“Fear not” appears here for the first time in the Bible.

Abram just made enemies: “I am thy shield.”

Abram just refused a fortune: “I am thy reward.”

“Fear not” isn’t a scolding. It’s a promise.

Abram brings God his honest doubt (vv. 2–3)

Genesis 15:2–3 “2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.”

These are Abram’s first recorded words to God.

Eliezer was Abram’s “Plan B.”

What’s your Eliezer? Bring your doubt to God honestly, not to your Plan B.

God answers with a specific promise (vv. 4–5)

Genesis 15:4–5 “4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”

God doesn’t give Abram an argument. He gives him a sky.

Abram believed, and God counted it as righteousness (v. 6)

Genesis 15:6 “6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

the root of our word “amen.” It means to lean your whole weight on something. The verb form suggests he kept on believing.“Believed”:

a bookkeeping word, credited to his account.“Counted”:

Abram didn’t just believe God exists (James 2:19). He believed what God said.

Romans 4:18, Romans 4:20–21 “20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

It’s not the size of your faith. It’s the Object of your faith.

Faith isn’t the absence of questions. It’s taking God at His word.

2. “Whereby shall I know?” God gives His word. (vv. 7–21)

God points back before He points forward (vv. 7–8)

Genesis 15:7–8 “7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?”

Biblical faith isn’t blind. It’s trust based on what God has said and done.

For us, that’s the cross and the empty tomb.

When you doubt God’s future, remember God’s past.

God makes a covenant the ancient way (vv. 9–11)

Abram cut the animals in half and laid them in two rows, with a path down the middle. Two people making a covenant would walk between the pieces together.

Jeremiah 34:1 “1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,”

Walking between the pieces meant, “If I break my word, may this happen to me.”

God tells Abram the hard chapter (vv. 12–16)

Genesis 15:13–14 “13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”

Exodus 12:40–41 “40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”

A hard chapter doesn’t mean God forgot His promise. Sometimes it’s part of it.

Waiting is one of God’s tools of grace.

God walks the path alone (vv. 17–21)

Genesis 15:17–18 “17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. 18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:”

Abram was asleep. “Deep sleep” is the same Hebrew word as Adam’s sleep in Genesis 2:21.

God alone passed through, as smoke and fire, the sign of His presence (Exodus 13:21; 19:18).

God was saying, “If this covenant is ever broken, let it fall on Me.”

Hebrews 6:17–18 “17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”

When God makes a promise, He signs both sides.

Hebrews 6:20 “20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

Because of Jesus, our Priest, you never have to approach God alone, never have to pay for your own sin, and never have to wonder whether anyone is speaking to God for you.

How Abram Teaches Us to Pray

1. Pray your doubts.

Abram didn’t hide his doubts. He prayed them. Honest prayer isn’t less faithful than polished prayer.

2. Pray God’s real promises.

God promised Abram a son and a land. He didn’t promise you a son, a house, a job, or a healing on your timeline. But in Christ, He has promised you:

2 Corinthians 1:20 “20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).His presence:

“He is faithful and just to forgive us” (1 John 1:9).His forgiveness:

“All things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).His purpose:

A simple test: If God made the promise to all His people in Christ, stand on it. If He made it to one person in one story, learn from it, but don’t demand it.

God may not promise you the outcome. He always promises you Himself.

Romans 8:32 “32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

3. Pray looking up.

Prayer starts with looking at Him, not just at your problem.

“Lord, I believe You.”

The Good News: God Walked the Path Alone

Counted righteous by believing (v. 6)

Abram wasn’t good enough. He was counted righteous years before he was circumcised (Romans 4:9–11). No ritual made Abram right with God. Only believing did.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

The curse fell on Christ (v. 17)

We broke the covenant. And at the cross, it fell on Him.

Galatians 3:13 “13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

God walked the path alone, so you wouldn’t have to.

You can be one of those stars (v. 5)

Out of all the stars God promised Abram, one Star was the point: “to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16), “the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16).

Galatians 3:29 “29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Abram was looking at you.

Pray

If you’re a believer, pray your honest question: “Lord God, here’s my question…”

If you’ve never trusted Christ, pray:

“Lord Jesus, I can’t make myself right with God. I believe You died for my sin and rose again. I trust You. Count me righteous.”

This week: Go outside, look up at the stars, and pray your honest question to God.