“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great
trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of
the day. Abraham looked up and saw three
men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent
to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do
not pass your servanti by. Let a little water be brought,
and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me
get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now
that you have come to your servant.” “Very
well,” they
answered, “do as you say.”
(Gen 18:1-5)
Most of us have conversations with others in a
number of ways. Sometimes a friend will
call a land-line. Sometimes it’s through hard-copy mail or a hand-written note. Sometimes through email, Facetime or
Skype. Other times it’s through a face to face conversation. The most important people in our lives often
communicate to us using all of the above, and other ways not mentioned. Likewise, God Most High will not be put into
a box when it comes to talking to us. As Genesis 18 opens, we read of a dialogue
between God and Abraham. Any dialogue
between God and man is, by definition, prayer.
Only this prayer is not with closed eyes, clasped hands and bowed head. Nor is it while Abraham kneels or lies
prostrate. Nor is it at a temple, altar
or even under a big tree. Nor is it in
the early morning, or the middle of the night.
Nor does it involve adoration, thanksgiving or intercession. Actually, this prayer breaks all the rules of
prayer as we are typically taught them.
Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent
in the heat of the day. Transliterated
to our culture; he is relaxing on his patio after working all morning. That “He looked up” means he was first looking down – perhaps he was drowsy, or just resting his head. It certainly doesn’t sound like he was praying in his mind or under his breath. Nevertheless, something prompts him to look
up and he sees three men standing nearby.
That in itself is unusual because you don’t stand around under the middle-eastern sun in the heat of the day! Perhaps for instinctive reasons of cultural
hospitality, or perhaps because he is concerned for their well-being, or
perhaps because of some internal prompt – we’ll never know for
sure - Abraham rushes over and humbly asks if he can play the host to these visitors.
What role this action has in the subsequent
pages of Genesis and history itself is not detailed for us. Did his hospitality influence God’s decision to let Abraham speak into His plans for Sodom and
Gomorrah? Maybe, maybe not. Did his demonstration of humility influence
God’s decision to be gracious to Sarah? We are not told. Yet we are told of this act. That in itself is unusual, because the
written Scriptures are not exhaustive.
All the same, God obviously thought this act was important enough to
make sure it became part of His Word. Obviously
it meant something that a simple man would show kindness, grace and generosity to
Him.
Prayer doesn’t need to always be verbal communication. Sometimes prayer is action. Showing kindness to others, graciousness or
generosity – all of these are a
form of prayer. Jesus said, “He who receives you receives me, and he who
receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because
he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous
man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s
reward.” He also prophesied that on the day of judgment the King will say, “Truly
I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters
of mine, you did for me.”
Taken together, we ought to
be encouraged. To demonstrate care and
compassion on those we find around us is not only a good thing to do, it may
well be a meaningful dialogue with God Most High.
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