On Prayer (Gen 4)

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.  Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”  (Gen 4:9-12, NIV)

That the Lord would speak to His anointed is almost a given.  That the Lord would speak to His people is rightly expected.  That the Lord would speak to those about to sin can be understood, for He is gracious to all.  But that the Lord would have a dialogue with those who have just committed a grievous sin – and that after being warned not to - is not only unexpected, but hard for the modern evangelical to understand.  Yet in Genesis 4 we find exactly that.

Cain had not thought the Lord worthy of the firstfruits of his harvest.   As a result, the Lord had withdrawn His favor.  Instead of seeking His face in repentance, or even merely seeking Him to ask why, Cain had stewed in his own anger.  Rather than let that go to its natural conclusion, the Lord then spoke to him.  It is possible that the Lord spoke repeatedly to Cain rather on just one occasion, because He asks him two questions of self-reflection, one question of right thinking and a final pointed warning (v6). How blessed is Cain, that even here when he foolishly allows greed or pride to restrict his offering, and then foolishly simmers in his own anger, that the Lord gives him not one, but four distinct “Words from God”! 

What happens next demonstrates the premeditated nature of the evil Cain does.  He ignores God, plans to meet his bother Abel in a remote field under pretext, and then carefully executes that plan, giving himself over to fulfilling the desire of the sin within.  A murder results.   Astonishingly, God does not abandon Cain even then, but reaches out to him with yet another question of self-reflection!  On his part, Cain takes that occasion to argue with God - the epitome of audacity! 

One might not think that prayer could include arguing!  Yet this is not an isolated example of people arguing with God.  It is merely the first example (as well as the first example of the continuation of sin among, and the exaggeration of sin in, Adam’s bloodline).  The Scripture is littered with examples of people arguing with God.  Most times they come around to His way of seeing things.  Always, He is shown right. 

God is gracious to speak to all who will listen to His Voice.  Be that if you are in perfect standing with Him or less than perfect standing – even sin.  Indeed, it is rightly said that all who have ever been delivered from sin first heard His Voice, for it was His Voice that called us out of darkness and into His glorious light, and no one can come to the Father unless He first draws us to Himself (John 6:44, 65).