TITLE:  The First Prayers
TEXT:  Genesis 20:5-7
PROPOSITION:  Prayer is important to Christians.
QUESTION:  When?
KEY WORD:  Prayers
SCRIPTURE READING:  Same

INTRODUCTION:

1. Prayer is important. It is the life-blood of Christians.
2. Some think that prayer is a NT activity.
3. Some think prayer started with the Law of Moses.
4. Today, we will look at the first two prayers of the Bible.

Genesis 4:26 – 5:7

1. Enosh is the first mention of prayer in the Bible
2. Cain killed Able
3. Seth is born 130 years later
4. Seth lived 105 years – Enosh was born
5. 235 years after the murder – men began to feel a need to seek God
6. Call on = Proclaim, worship, pray
7. “As people realized their inherent sinfulness with no human means to appease God’s righteous indignation and wrath over their multiplied iniquities, they turn to God for mercy and grace in hopes of a restored personal relationship.” (John McArthur)

Genesis 20:1-18

1. Abraham lied (half-truth) about Sarah.
2. Abimelech took her – was prevented from a sexual relationship
3. God said – give her back to Abraham
4. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. (7)
5. A lie can cause much trouble – for more people than the liar.
6. Doesn’t Abraham need to do some repenting? Who lied?
7. God is merciful, willing to forgive our sins.
8. 1 John 1:7 – “cleanses us from ALL sin”
9. 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess – will forgive us from all unrighteousness”

Lessons to Learn

1. Prayer is a vital link between man and God.
2. When we realize that we have sinned – we should seek God as Enosh did.
3. Prayer is not selfish – just for me.
4. We must learn to pray for others – as Abraham prayed for Abimelech (20:17)

NOTE: Some of the ideas for this lesson are from a sermon outline by David H. Waser.